In April 2007 an art survey was developed to include images typical of pediatric units, and was conducted with sixty-four pediatric patients at Memorial Hermann Children's hospital. These children were in the hospital for short-term stays between one to three days.

Findings showed that children, like adults, liked nature images: however, these images had to be bright in color and have an associative quality. Fantasy images, typically associated with children, also did well, but the most popular of these images were those that depicted the outdoors and nature elements. Images that were devoid of context rated very low. Child art, or drawings by children, were rated somewhere in the middle. Given how every second pediatric clinic displays child art proudly, it is interesting to note that children might like to see their own drawings, but are not as excited about seeing drawings by other children as we may imagine.

Presented at HFSE '07 and '08 (Healthcare Facilities Symposium and Exhibition), and SAH '09
Published in HERD Journal (Healthcare Environments Research and Design)-Summer 2009
PDF Available