Sight – a profound impact on our psychological well‐being.

Did you know that the choice of imagery you place around your business can have a profound impact on the emotive state of your patients/customers? So much so in fact that you can alter the outcome of that patient visit considerably. Why wouldn’t you want to take advantage of that opportunity?

Just for a moment, stop and think about it.

Why do we travel to see things? Why do we bother putting windows in our homes, offices and other buildings if what we see doesn’t matter? Why do we take our children to the zoo? How do we distract a child in discomfort or sadness…. we divert their attention visually, which in turn, generates a different feeling that either diminishes the original feeling to. some degree or potentially replaces it altogether.

One of the most active and longer term researchers in this sphere,  has been Roger S. Ulrich, who has written many articles into the connection between sight and emotive state of patients in particular. There are of course many other studies that demonstrate what we all know instinctively anyway, that being “what we see, makes us feel“. Understanding how to elicit the right feelings in a given scenario is key and therefor crucial to any business and the opportunity to harness the power of visual distraction effectively.

“a reduction in arousal or activation produces pleasurable feelings if an individual is experiencing stress or excessive arousal” (Berlyne, 1971)

For most people, the idea of losing their sight is the most consequential and fear indusing “sense” to lose. Everything we see, impacts how we feel and yet even in the most basic of care settings, we regularly present blank and more often than not, white spaces where patients wait for, are moved through to and are placed for their treatment. How do you think that care recipient is going to be feeling as your care team do whatever they need to to that person when faced with sterile blank white walls (maybe even with medical information charts adorning the space)?

It does not take much to alter that scenario and it only takes a little more on top of that, to alter that scenario so dramatically you could convert a highly worried (anxious) patient, to one even happy/content to be there. I’ve experienced that firsthand with a patient, so I know how true this can be. Giving people a view, the right view, allows positive distraction for the brain which can reduce pain, shorten perception of time and bring peace to the care recipient, reducing their “worry” and/or “immediate distress”.

Simply purchasing the most accessible and affordable images without purpose (just because the purchaser “likes” them for example), is a precarious act in itself. What visually pleases one person, may well put the fear of God into another. Think about it. A beautiful waterfall perhaps? Many would be invigorated by such a scene, but many would be terrified. Maybe this image is placed in a setting where a state of calm is the most desired emotive state of the patient/customer? An invigorating image is just not the right choice no matter how beautiful it is. Personal choice in imagery is more often than not, a mistake and one that at best will have little or no impact on the patient/customer and at worst, increase their fear factors, increasing their state of “worry”.

Colour – tone – brightness – content – shapes and much much more, will all contribute to the emotional impact any one image will have on the majority of people.

What you place, where you place it. These are the windows which people in your setting look into and will therefor impact how they feel: before, during and after any treatment you are providing.

At Virtual Vistas, it is our mission to match the right imagery to the space and purpose for which it is needed.

“Easing the mind of people in care settings”

By | 2019-01-15T00:32:29+00:00 January 15th, 2019|Uncategorized|0 Comments

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Founder of Virtual Vistas

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