Hospitals are built around a single purpose: to care and heal. This is a demanding and complex role, and we are aware and appreciative of its difficulty and performance on a daily basis. Hospitals are better and better at repairing bodies, but are we just bodies? Our relationship with the world and with others is forged on emotion. A hypothesis: the beauty of the world, the beauty of things and beings is the balm that soothes us, the elixir that keeps us going. Hospitals can no longer compromise on this subtle dimension of care: its beauty!The aim of this dissertation is to confirm this hypothesis and its implications based on a study of the importance placed on beauty in hospitals.
