Abstract
Research on color in the design of healthcare settings is minimal. This paper provides an executive summary of a recent review on this topic, focusing on application to newborn intensive care units. The review focuses on the following question: Does the use of color in the design of the newborn intensive care units impact health outcomes in infants, families, and/or staff? We employed a structured review process, resulting in four studies involving the use of color in NICUs. The search was expanded to include general research on responses to color and studies in other healthcare settings. The literature clustered around preferences and psychobiological impact of color on infants and adults in NICUs, the interaction of color and light, and the impact of color on adults in general medical settings. Recommendations are made regarding the importance of modifiability and flexibility in the use of color in NICUs and colors that are associated with stress reduction and stimulation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Tofle RB, Schwarz B, Yoon SY, Max-Royale A, Des ME. Color in Healthcare Environments—A Research Report [Internet]. The Coalition for Health Environments Research. 2004. https://www.healthdesign.org/sites/default/files/color_in_hc_environ.pdf.
Schwarz B, Tofle RB. Color design in healthcare environments: theoretical observations. Environ Des Res Assoc. 2005;36:46–9.
Bosch SJ, Edelstein E, Cama R, Malkin J. The Application of Color in Healthcare Settings. The Center for Health Design; 2012.
Shepley MM, Ames RA, Lin C Color and Newborn ICU Design. Unpublished paper. 2023.
Arksey H, O’Malley L. Scoping studies: towards a methodological framework. Int J Soc Res Methodol. 2005;8:19–32.
Trujillo JLH, Aviñó AMI, Millán CL. User evaluation of neonatology ward design: an application of focus group and semantic differential. HERD. 2017;10:23–48.
Figueiro MG, Appleman K, Bullough JD, Rea MS. A discussion of recommended standards for lighting in the newborn intensive care unit. J Perinatol. 2006;26:19–26.
Rizzo P, Rea M, White R. Lighting for today’s neonatal intensive care unit. Newborn Infant Nurs Rev. 2010;10:107–13.
Shepley MM. Evidence-based design for infants and staff in the neonatal intensive care unit. Clin Perinatol. 2004;31:299–311.
The Center for Health Design. Knowledge Repository [Internet]. The Center for Health Design. 2022 [cited 2022 Dec 4]. Available from: https://www.healthdesign.org/knowledge-repository.
Adams RJ, Courage ML, Mercer ME. Systematic measurement of human color vision. Vis Res. 1994;34:1691–701.
Skelton AE, Maule J, Franklin A. Infant color perception: Insight into perceptual development. Child Dev Perspect. 2022;16:90–5.
White RD. Right lighting the NICU. Acta Paediatr. 2020;109:1288–9.
Yuodelis C, Hendrickson A. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of the human fovea during development. Vis Res. 1986;26:847–55.
Teller DY. Spatial and temporal aspects of infant color vision. Vis Res. 1998;38:3275–82.
Bosworth RG, Dobkins KR. Effects of prematurity on the development of contrast sensitivity: testing the visual experience hypothesis. Vis Res. 2013;82:31–41.
Maule J, Skelton AE, Franklin A. The development of color perception and cognition. Annu Rev Psychol. 2023;74:4.1–4.25.
Skelton AE, Franklin A. Infants look longer at colours that adults like when colours are highly saturated. Psychon Bull Rev. 2020;27:78–85.
Knoblauch K, Vital-Durand F, Barbur JL. Variation of chromatic sensitivity across the life span. Vis Res. 2001;41:23–36.
Dannemiller JL. A test of color constancy in 9- and 20-week-old human infants following simulated illuminant changes. Dev. Psychol. 1989;25:171–84.
Regard M, Landis T. “Gourmand syndrome” Eating passion associated with right anterior lesions. Neurology. 1998;48:1185–90.
Schore AN. The neurobiology of attachment and early personality organization. J Prenat Perinat Psychol Health. 2002;16:249–63.
Houser K, Mossman M, Smet K, Whitehead L. Tutorial: color rendering and its applications in lighting. LEUKOS. 2016;12:7–26.
Katunský D, Dolníková E, Dolník B, Krajníková K. Influence of light reflection from the wall and ceiling due to color changes in the indoor environment of the selected hall. Appl Sci. 2022;12:5154.
Singh R, Rawal R Effect of Surface Reflectance on Lighting Efficiency in Interiors. In: Proceedings of Building Simulation. Sydney: IBPSA; 2011. p. 2301–8.
Babin SE Color Theory: The effects of color in medical environments [Internet]. [Hattiesburg, Mississippi]: The University of Southern Mississippi; 2013. Available from: https://aquila.usm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1173&context=honors_theses.
Child IL, Hansen JA, Hornbeck FW. Age and sex differences in children’s color preferences. Child Dev. 1968;39:237–47.
Coad J, Coad N. Children and young people’s preference of thematic design and colour for their hospital environment. J Child Health Care. 2008;12:33–48.
Park JG. Color perception in pediatric patient room design: healthy children vs. pediatric patients. HERD. 2009;2:6–28.
Park JG, Park C.Color perception in pediatric patient room design: American versus Korean Pediatric patients. HERD. 2013;6:10–26.
Bianchetti A, Benvenuti P, Ghisla KM, Frisoni GB, Trabucchi M. An Italian model of dementia special care unit: results of a pilot study. Alzheimer Dis Associated Disord. 1997;11:53–6.
Edgerton E, Ritchie L, McKechnie J. Objective and subjective evaluation of a redesigned corridor environment in a psychiatric hospital. Issues Ment Health Nurs. 2010;31:306–14.
Gray WA, Kesten KS, Hurst S, Anderko L. Using clinical simulation centers to test design interventions: a pilot study of lighting and color modifications. HERD. 2012;5:46–65.
Edge KJ. Wall color of patient;s room: effects on recovery. [Gainesville Florida]: University of Florida; 2003.
Kalantari S, Tripathi V, Kan J, Rounds JD, Mostafavi A, Snell R, et al. Evaluating the impacts of color, graphics, and architectural features on wayfinding in healthcare settings using EEG data and virtual response testing. J Environ Psychol. 2022;79:16.
Aroua I, Hussein F. Color analysis of birth space ambiances. Color Cult Sci J. 2020;12:40–7.
Judd D, Wyszecki G. Color in business, science, and industry. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Wiley; 1975. 553 p.
de Villemor-Amaral AE, Yazigi L. Color and affect: a long, never-ending history. Rorschachiana. 2022;43:70–88.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
MS conceived the project, and wrote and edited the majority of the paper. RA participated in gathering of the literature, contributed a portion of the text and helped to edit the document. CL participated in gathering the literature, contributed a portion of the text and creation of tables.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Shepley, M.M., Ames, R.L. & Lin, C.Y. Color and newborn intensive care unit design: executive summary. J Perinatol 43 (Suppl 1), 45–48 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-023-01707-3
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-023-01707-3
- Springer Nature America, Inc.