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An Inventory of Biophilic Design Attributes Within Child Life Play Spaces

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An Inventory of Biophilic Design Attributes Within Child Life Play Spaces MCGEE, BETH L., M.S. An Inventory of Biophilic Design Attributes within Child Life Play Spaces. (2012) Directed by Dr. Anna Marshall-Baker. 198 pp. A review of the literature in architecture and interior design revealed health benefits from exposure to natural conditions. This was not particularly surprising given work related to biophilic theory, which posits an innate human affiliation to nature. The positive effects of interaction with our environment were also found in literature related to child development which revealed the importance of nature and play for enriching children’s development. This project intended to quantify the variety of biophilic design attributes present within existing play spaces that are used to support children’s health and well-being in healthcare settings within Child Life, a program that aims to help children and their families cope with the healthcare experience. The project used photography to document 24 inpatient play spaces in North Carolina health care facilities that employ Child Life. Features of the spaces identified in the photographs were then recorded using a Biophilic Interior Design Matrix, which was developed to inventory the range of biophilia design elements and their subset attributes (Kellert, 2008) to provide a quantitative score. It was developed and pre-tested in order to use the instrument to quantify the play room attributes and used inter-rater reliability testing to further define the instrument’s accuracy and dependability. The results from the matrices was an average total biophilic attribute score of 21.5 out of 52 total points or a 41% average inclusion with a statistical range of 25 points. The average for all of the room’s element sub-scores was averaged among each other with a 3.7 score of attribute inclusion per element among all of the play rooms. The element with the highest presence was Natural shapes and forms, the representation or simulation of the natural world, and the lowest was Place-based relationships, connecting culture with ecology and the geographical context. These results offer initial findings as to what levels the biophilia attributes are found in the interior, and specifically in Child Life play spaces. An online survey of the eight Child Life facilities staff was conducted regarding their play space preferences, where they use these rooms to work with hospitalized children. The four open-ended question’s responses showed the most common topic was a desire for a spacious environment with 54% of play rooms either requesting more space or appreciating a large space. The human desire for spaciousness was found to be greatly desired in interior play rooms for its ability to help patients move throughout the space easily and have access to choices of activities alongside other patients. Secondly, around 30% specifically wanted or appreciated having various nature-based design features. Also, the surveys resounded with support for the play space as a tool used by Child Life in its endeavors for supporting their pediatric patients and its effectiveness. The survey results were incorporated with the matrix findings to create 24 case studies of the play spaces. The lowest effectiveness ratings from the survey responses were found in spaces scoring on the lowest end of the matrix results and further support a link between an environment with a higher variety of biophilic attributes and an effective Child Life play space. These case studies showed that biophilic features were found in varying amounts and some were specifically indicated as being desirable. Further research on the individual attributes and wider application of the matrix may add to this initial quantification of biophilia. The matrix is easily adapted for additional applications and was aimed at assisting interior designers with aiding biophilia identification and incorporation. The case studies provide support for future biophilia design decisions, as well as informing additional research involving Child Life play spaces. AN INVENTORY OF BIOPHILIC DESIGN ATTRIBUTES WITHIN CHILD LIFE PLAY SPACES by Beth L. McGee A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science Greensboro 2012 Approved by ____________________________ Committee Chair © 2012 Beth L. McGee APPROVAL PAGE This thesis has been approved by the following committee of the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Committee Chair ____________________________ Committee Members ____________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________ Date of Acceptance by Committee ____________________________ Date of Final Oral Examination ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the numerous people who helped me throughout the process of writing this thesis. First I would like to thank my committee chair, Dr. Anna Marshall-Baker, whose guidance throughout the past two years was instrumental in the completion of this project. I would also like to extend my appreciation to my committee members Dr. Linda Hestenes, Travis Hicks, and Tina Sarawgi for all of their patience, advice, and contributions towards this thesis. Also, to the entire group of people from each institution’s IRB, administration, and Child Life staff I would like to again say thank you for all of the assistance provided in the gathering of my data. I would also like to thank Dr. Kenneth Gruber for his assistance with my methodology. Of course, I need to say thank you to my fellow classmates from the undergraduate program and graduate program, especially Karyn Reilly and Megan Klem who assisted me throughout and proved to be great friends as well as a much needed support group, as did Natalie Wall and Abby Gentry who also aided this research with their help and friendship. Finally, I would like to thank my family for all of their love and encouragement, especially my wonderful husband who is my best friend and is always supportive of my endeavors. I could not have done this without you. It is because of all of these people that I have been able to reach this goal and can set my sights even higher. Thank you. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 1 II. LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................................. 5 Biophilia ................................................................................................................ 6 Child Life ............................................................................................................. 25 Research summary ............................................................................................... 35 III. METHODS & METHODOLOGY.................................................................................. 37 Methodology ........................................................................................................ 37 Method ................................................................................................................. 38 IV. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ................................................................................... 49 Matrix results ....................................................................................................... 49 Survey results ....................................................................................................... 54 Case Studies ......................................................................................................... 57 Delimiters .......................................................................................................... 130 V. CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................... 133 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................ 135 APPENDIX A: DEFINITION OF TERMS. ................................................................................ 144 APPENDIX B: NORTH CAROLINA CHILD LIFE LOCATIONS .......................................... 148 APPENDIX C: CHILD LIFE SPECIALIST SURVEY AND RESPONSES ............................. 149 APPENDIX D: BIOPHILIC INTERIOR DESIGN GLOSSARY ............................................... 166 APPENDIX E: BIOPHILIA DIMENSIONS, ELEMENTS, AND ATTRIBUTES .................... 169 iv APPENDIX F: BIOPHILIC INTERIOR DESIGN MATRIX SAMPLE .................................... 179 APPENDIX G: MATRIX ANALYSIS TABLE ......................................................................... 190 v LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1. Interior biophilic elements and attributes of design, based on S. Kellert (2008). ............ 21 Table 2. North Carolina Child Life Locations. ............................................................................ 148 Table 3. Survey Responses for Question 1 .................................................................................. 152 Table 4. Survey Responses for Question 2
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