Journal of Community Health

, Volume 12, Issue 2–3, pp 163–175 | Cite as

Wellness health care and the architectural environment

  • Stephen Verderber
  • Stan Grice
  • Patrice Gutentag
Articles

Abstract

The stress management-wellness health care environment is emerging as a distinct facility type in the 1980s. Yet the idea is not a new one, with roots based in the Greek Asklepieon dating from 480 B.C. This and later Western transformations for health promotion embraced the therapeutic amenity inherent in meditation, solace and communality with nature based on the premise that the need for refuge from the stress inherent in one's daily life is deep-rooted in humans. A two-phase study is reported on wellness health care provider priorities, relative to the architectural features of stress-wellness centers. Representatives of 11 health care organizations responded to a telephone survey questionnaire, and 128 respondents completed a user needs questionnaire. Four major issues were addressed: image and appearance, location and setting, services provided and costs, and patterns of use. Convenience to one's place of work, a balanced mixture of clinical and nonclinical programs, a noninstitutional retreat-like environment, and membership cost structures were found to be major user considerations with respect to planning and design concepts for wellness health care environments. Directions for further research are discussed.

Keywords

Health Promotion Health Care Provider Survey Questionnaire Design Concept Care Organization 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Human Sciences Press 1987

Authors and Affiliations

  • Stephen Verderber
    • 1
  • Stan Grice
  • Patrice Gutentag
  1. 1.School of ArchitectureTulane UniversityNew Orleans

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