Benefits of Nature Imagery and Visual Art in Healthcare Contexts: A View from Empirical Aesthetics

Public enthusiasm for the arts is high, a trend reflected in the increasingly commonplace incorporation of art in healthcare settings to enhance patient health and wellbeing. The primary aim of this critical narrative review is to evaluate the evidence for the health benefits of the most common art intervention in healthcare—visual art in the built environment. This review synthesizes 25 experimental studies of adult patients passively exposed to nature imagery (n = 17) or other visual art (n = 8). Additional aims are to identify methodological limits and conceptual gaps, integrate the evaluation of studies with insights from empirical aesthetics, and propose a research agenda to advance understanding in ways relevant to clinicians, hospital designers, and policymakers. The efficacy of nature imagery is surprisingly robust given the limited evidence, consistently indicating reduced stress, pain, and anxiety and enhanced patient satisfaction. The impacts of other visual art forms and on other psychological and clinical outcomes are promising but inconsistent, requiring additional testing. Key opportunities for the future include tailoring interventions to the needs of different contexts and populations, deepening engagement, leveraging emerging technologies, capitalizing on underlying mechanisms, and demonstrating economic benefits. With rigorous, scientific study, this young field can inform hospital design, improve patient outcomes, and enhance the culture of healthcare.