Humanizing Healthcare Creating less stressful patient care environments Donald Duncan 2008 | Master of Architecture The environments created for hospital users have been shown to affect stress levels, which in turn affects the ability of hospitals to treat patients, retain staff, and encourage visitation. This project takes a look at data that shows direct correlation between environment and user well-being both on physiological and psychological levels. The research findings were compiled to develop eight design goals used to create a patient tower for a replacement hospital in Hobart, Indiana. The design solution is the resulting integration of these design goals and is the creation of a hospital design that is centered around the development of individual patient, nurse, and visitor spaces.