Hanouf, Wissal and Moulay, Amine and Aripin, Srazali and Zakariya, Khalilah (2026) Healing environments and women's well-being: a systematic review on the role of natural light, greenery, and ventilation in hospitals. In: Technological Innovation and Enhancing Decision Processes in Modern Enterprises. Studies in Systems, Decision and Control, 631 . Springer Nature Switzerland AG, pp. 177-185. ISBN 978-3-032-04377-1
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Abstract
The impact of healing environments on women and their well-being in healthcare settings is underexplored. As women frequently use healthcare, espe-cially for reproductive and family care, they have unique physiological and psycho-logical sensitivities to the environmental condition. Accordingly, the current review evaluates the contribution of natural light, greenery, and ventilation as structural elements of healing environments in public hospitals with relevance to the well-being of women. Following the PRISMA guidelines, a standard systematic review was conducted based on peer-reviewed studies published in the databases: Scopus, ScienceDirect, Elsevier, Taylor & Francis, and Springer. Inclusion criteria featured research within the years 2012–2024 relating to hospital architecture, environmental psychology, and patient-centered design. Exclusion criteria included studies that had no gender-specific analysis or solely focused on private health facilities. A total of 32 articles were included in the final analysis. Results indicated that systemic barriers such as financial constraints, overcrowding, and old buildings hinder the applica-tion of healing environment principles at public hospitals, while private hospitals can use financial flexibility allowed for biophilic designs, optimize ventilation and increase day-lighting levels. This review reveals that although the positive impact of natural elements on stress reduction, patient recovery, and psychological comfort is supported by literature, disparities between types of hospitals stress the importance of a policy-driven approach in public healthcare setting. The review highlights the lack of consistent frameworks for gender-responsive hospital design and calls for repli-cable and affordable interventions in public hospital settings to equitably promote access to healing environments. Further research may investigate flexible design solutions that bridge the gap between public and private clinical infrastructures, to better integrate health promoting environments for women across the globe.
| Item Type: | Book Chapter |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Healing environments; Women’s well-being; Hospital architecture; Biophilic design in healthcare |
| Subjects: | N Fine Arts > NA Architecture N Fine Arts > NA Architecture > NA9000 Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying N Fine Arts > NA Architecture > NA9000 Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying > NA9053.R4 City planning |
| Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button): | Kulliyyah of Architecture and Environmental Design Kulliyyah of Architecture and Environmental Design > Department of Architecture Kulliyyah of Architecture and Environmental Design > Department of Landscape Architecture |
| Depositing User: | Dr. Khalilah Zakariya |
| Date Deposited: | 30 Sep 2026 17:09 |
| Last Update: | 30 Sep 2026 17:09 |
| Queue Number: | 2026-09-Q5372 |
| URI: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/131111 |
| Indexed In: | SCOPUS |
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