The impact of salutogenic design on perceived environmental quality and mood in healthcare environments: a comparative case study in dental clinics

Abstract

This thesis systematically analyzed the effect of biophilic design as a salutogenic design method on improving a patient’s perceived environmental quality and mood in dental clinic waiting rooms. For this purpose, five experts evaluated potential dental clinic waiting rooms based on their biophilic scores and selected two dental clinics to compare their waiting rooms. One hundred four patients perceived environmental quality and mood were assessed while they were waiting for their treatment in the waiting room of the two clinics. According to the results, the patients' perceived environmental quality was greater in the waiting area with a higher biophilic score. The patients' mood scores, on the other hand, did not show any significant differences across the clinics. The outcomes of this thesis lead to a better understanding of how to incorporate salutogenic design features into dental clinic waiting rooms to enhance the patient experience.