%0 Journal Article %T Effects of Environmental Design Inspired by nature on Psychological and Physiological Responses of Clients in Medical Spaces %J International Journal of Environmental Research %I University of Tehran/Springer %Z 1735-6865 %A Saffarinia, M. %A Tavakkoli, S. %A Alipor, A. %D 2012 %\ 06/01/2012 %V 6 %N 3 %P 689-694 %! Effects of Environmental Design Inspired by nature on Psychological and Physiological Responses of Clients in Medical Spaces %K Natural Environmental Design %K Waiting Anxiety %K blood pressure %K Pulse Rate %R 10.22059/ijer.2012.539 %X Medical environments such as hospital waiting rooms can affect a client’s anxiety level as wellas psychological and physiological responses to his or her situation. The aim of this research was to evaluatethe use of environmental design, specifically the design which incorporates elements of nature, in clinics andhospitals to decrease anxiety, blood pressure and pulse rates of waiting clients. Representations of nature andthe natural environment are known to recover a dynamic union between an environment and its user, thereforethe effects of environmental design on subjects’ responses are measured and analyzed. In order to examinethese hypotheses a sample of 145 people were chosen as subjects for the experiment. They were divided intocontrol and experiment groups, both of which included males and females. The designed environment wasapplied for the experiment group which included elements of nature, green plants, sounds of waterfall andbirds. Both control and experiment groups were pre tested and then post tested. The findings showed thatbeing in the designed hospital’s waiting room was clearly effective at decreasing a client’s level of anxiety (p<0.001), blood pressure (p< 0.001) and pulse rate (0.001). We propose that using an environmental design formedical treatment centers can reduce levels of anxiety in clients and can effectively foster a sense of wellbeing. %U https://ijer.ut.ac.ir/article_539_73e141d85445c5f35084a1588cbfc0b2.pdf