Aesthetics sets patients 'free' to recover during hospitalization with a neurological disease. A qualitative study

BACKGROUND: Patients with neurological symptoms are particularly sensitive to the quality of the sensory impressions to which they are exposed to during hospitalization.

AIM: To understand the meaning of aesthetic experiences to patients afflicted with neurological diseases during hospitalization on a neurological unit.

METHOD: Fifteen patients were invited to "walk and talk" supplemented by semi-structured interviews conducted in newly established aesthetic tableaus within the neurology unit. Data analysis was inspired by the hermeneutic phenomenological methodology of van Manen.

RESULT: The data analysis identified three overarching themes that unfolded in the patients' experiences of a more aesthetic environment. The themes were: 1) A safe place to avoid noisiness, 2) An invitation to homey activities, 3) A thoughtful consideration for being ill.

CONCLUSION: Aesthetic elements can enable a thoughtful and needed consideration that withholds momentarily imaginative and hopeful experiences to patients in a vulnerable situation. Thus, aesthetics, together with peace and quietness, can set vulnerable patients free to retreat and recover from the symptoms of neurological diseases.