Department of Architectural Studies, 14716University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.
Interior Design, Department of Design, Housing, and Apparel, 5635University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA.
HERD. 2020 Oct;13(4):158-172. doi: 10.1177/1937586720929021. Epub 2020 Jun 5.
This study was designed to explore the associations between an ambient scent environment and residents' wellness in long-term care facilities.
The number of older adults living in an institutional setting has been steadily but slowly increasing. Because of a higher chance of having psychological disorders among people living in institutional settings than people living in noninstitutional settings, providing a supportive institutional setting is critical to enhance their wellness. The theory of supportive design suggests healthcare facilities can lower people's stress levels via three conditions (i.e., perceived control, social support, and positive distractions).
A single-blind and placebo-randomized controlled study investigated the impacts of ambient scent environment, as a positive distraction, on residents' depression levels. The recruited residents ( = 58) were randomly assigned into either the intervention group, which received a 1% dilution of lavender scent for 2 weeks nearby their bedside or the placebo group, which received a nonscent for 2 weeks.
Their depression levels were measured by the Geriatric Depression Scale. Based on the tests, both intervention and placebo groups had improvement in depression, indicating a placebo effect of lavender scent. Further regression analyses explored the interaction effects of built environments (e.g., building, distance to a ventilation system, and square footage). However, no statistically significant impact of the built environment was found.
Despite a placebo effect of ambient scent environment and nonsignificant built environment on depression, this study has valuable implications of being a positive distraction during the healing process as developed by the Theory of Supportive design.
本研究旨在探讨长期护理机构中环境气味与居民健康之间的关系。
居住在机构环境中的老年人数量一直在稳步缓慢增加。由于居住在机构环境中的人比居住在非机构环境中的人更有可能患有心理障碍，因此提供支持性的机构环境对于提高他们的健康水平至关重要。支持性设计理论表明，医疗保健设施可以通过三种条件（即感知控制、社会支持和积极分心）降低人们的压力水平。
一项单盲、安慰剂随机对照研究调查了环境气味环境（作为一种积极的分心因素）对居民抑郁水平的影响。招募的居民（n=58）被随机分配到干预组或安慰剂组。干预组在床边附近接受 1%薰衣草香味稀释剂 2 周，安慰剂组接受无香味 2 周。
他们的抑郁水平通过老年抑郁量表进行测量。基于 t 检验，干预组和安慰剂组的抑郁水平都有所改善，表明薰衣草香味有安慰剂效应。进一步的回归分析探讨了建筑环境（如建筑、与通风系统的距离和平方英尺）的交互作用效应。然而，建筑环境没有统计学上的显著影响。
尽管环境气味环境和建筑环境对抑郁的安慰剂效应不显著，但本研究具有重要意义，它支持支持性设计理论中的积极分心在治疗过程中的作用。
