Construction is likely to rebound as the pandemic wanes, with increasing growth in behavioral and mental health facilities and micro-hospitals. Demand for art in healthcare is likely to increase.
We should all be wary of those who predict the future, but the job of healthcare analysts is to study trends in healthcare utilization and make predictions. Their judgements help inform decisions about future healthcare and hospital design and construction. The pandemic has been a disruptive force, slowing or stopping planned hospital construction while exposing certain inadequacies in our healthcare system and in healthcare design,
Before the pandemic, the healthcare sector was showing steady growth in construction volume of about 2.4% on average. Construction volume was projected (in 2019) to increase by about 6.6% on average for 2019-2022.
Hospital construction well below projections in 2020 and 2021 but is expected to rebound quickly.
Covid changed those numbers. Actual growth was 1.6% in 2020 and was in negative territory (-0.8%) in 2021.
However, according to one analyst, projected growth for the next couple of years will be in the 6$ range: "We still believe the health-care sector is the strongest market, with the greatest short-term and long-term growth potential. It appears to be rebounding quicker than other sectors ... I believe the government—federal and state—has realized how fragile and out-of-date some of our health-care infrastructures are, and they will make the dollars available for hospitals to expand, upgrade and, in some cases, build replacement hospitals."
"We still believe the health-care sector is the strongest market, with the greatest short-term and long-term growth potential. It appears to be rebounding quicker than other sectors."
More patients will be cared for at home, there will be more micro hospitals, more mental and behavioral health facilities. More office space will be needed.
The same analyst echoes other voices in the industry who believe there will be shifts in the location of patient care—from hospital to home—to help hospitals unload less ill patients and focus on more intensive care.
For similar reasons, the analyst feels, more micro-hospitals will be built in rural areas. This will help provide care that is closer to home for less ill patients while decreasing the current demand for expensive transport to over-burdened hospitals in the larger cities.
Additionally, our experience with the pandemic has made it abundantly clear that there is a significant need for more behavioral health and mental health facilities. The analyst believes more of these facilities will be built.
The last point I'll address from the analysis is that, "Healthcare is being increasingly redefined to include mental, spiritual, and emotional wellbeing. Providers are adopting a more holistic approach, recommending things like physical therapy as well as medication. Healthcare facilities will likely follow suit, with less lab space and more office space."
What kind of art will be needed for the new construction?
For those of us providing art for healthcare, history informs us those new facilities and offices will need art on the walls. Replacement art will also be needed as spaces get repurposed and money becomes available. It appears as if the demand for art in healthcare will increase over the next couple of years, perhaps longer.
What sort of art will the new types of healthcare facilities (behavioral and mental health facilities, rural micro hospitals, provider offices) want on their walls?
We have a growing body of experimental evidence and patient surveys to guide our choice of art for patient rooms in hospitals. Art for office spaces, conference rooms and public areas within healthcare facilities has fewer constraints and will likely be chosen to reflect or create a hospital's brand. Micro-hospitals will likely have similar art preferences to larger hospitals.
Is there empirical evidence to guide the choice of art for behavioral in mental health care facilities?
While there is good evidence that involving mental and behavioral health patients in art projects has benefit, there is less evidence to guide the choice of wall art in the facilities that care for those patients. One such study did show a benefit for realistic nature photography as compared with abstract art or empty walls.
The authors summarize their findings thusly:
There is a growing body of evidence on the impact of the environment on health and well-being. This study focuses on the impact of visual artworks on the well-being of psychiatric patients in a multi-purpose lounge of an acute care psychiatric unit. Well-being was measured by the rate of pro re nata (PRN) medication issued by nurses in response to visible signs of patient anxiety and agitation. Nurses were interviewed to get qualitative feedback on the patient response. Findings revealed that the ratio of PRN/patient census was significantly lower on the days when a realistic nature photograph was displayed, compared to the control condition (no art) and abstract art. Nurses reported that some patients displayed agitated behaviour in response to the abstract image. This study makes a case for the impact of visual art on mental well-being. The research findings were also translated into the time and money invested on PRN incidents, and annual cost savings of almost $US30 000 a year was projected. This research makes a case that simple environmental interventions like visual art can save the hospital costs of medication, and staff and pharmacy time, by providing a visual distraction that can alleviate anxiety and agitation in patients.
Bottom line: the projected increase in healthcare construction will likely drive a similar increase in demand for art. Because of its positive impact on mental health generally, representational landscape photography will continue to be in demand—especially in areas of direct patient care.
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