Art for Military Hospitals, Part 1

Black Hawk helicopter on a medical evacuation mission in Iraq

What is unique about art intended for military hospitals? To help answer that question I asked Kathy Hathorn to share some of her insight.

Is the selection of art for military hospitals different from civilian hospitals?

Most of our military work has been for the Air Force. Yes, I do believe that there are some important issues to consider.

Since the US has an all-volunteer army its facilities need to be appealing, psychologically supportive spaces.  They are moving towards a first-class look. I see this with not only the military healthcare facility itself but also residential spaces, especially for foreign service personnel.

What about the fact that many of those in military hospitals these days tend to be young soldiers injured in the line of duty?

Clearly this is a different population than you would see at a general medical hospital. It is better to think of their needs as one would think about a specialty hospital like a Shriner’s hospital or a hospital specializing in stroke care. For one thing, their length of stay tends to be longer. In a general medical hospital people might average 3 or 4 days. Soldiers recovering from battlefield injuries might be hospitalized for months. That makes the art on the wall even more important; they will be living with it for longer.

Are there other issues to consider?

One can’t ignore those who are not combatants, as well as the families of those who are at war. They too suffer and need medical help. There is a growing incidence of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). To help deal with this we need better research.

Speaking of research, the appropriate use of art in Military Hospitals seems like it would be prime for some evidence-based design research.

I agree. Not much research has been done on this topic so far.

Kathy Hathorn is President and Principal-in-Charge of American Art Resources in Houston. Kathy is widely recognized as a pioneer and leader in the field of Evidence-based Art.