Can colour enhance emotional well-being in a primary care non-clinical consulting room? – A mixed-method study

Abstract

The potential for colour to influence human emotion and behaviour has received considerable attention in the research community, and more recently, extended to the applied use of colour in the healthcare environment. Although the evidence for colour application in the specialist mental health consulting room is diverse and evaluations infrequent, in context of an occupational transaction, it is proposed that colour and design affect a sense of emotional well-being, and potentially, health outcomes. The purpose of this work, a pragmatic, mixed method parallel design was to ask the question, ‘can colour enhance emotional well-being in a primary care non-clinical consulting room’? Two strands were implemented sequentially, with some cross over. The experimental hypothesis predicted that colour would have an effect on emotional well-being. Quantitative data was collected with Likert type questions measuring response towards wall colour in a UK general medical surgery specialising in hard to reach communities. Three semi-structured focus groups explored qualitatively and quantitatively a sense of emotional well-being in response to interior room colour (n=8). Application of colour as intervention enabled post-test questionnaire (n=18) data to be collected. A limitation of this study is the sample size. However, the strength is potential value for similar specialist surgeries or healthcare environments. Meta inferences indicate that applied colour can enhance emotional well-being, and extensive use of off-white is not recommended without consideration to seating and visual detail. Significance was found for age, depression, and participation in focus groups, which warrants further research.