My name is Emma Zijlstra and I'm a PhD student working at the University Medical Center of Groningen and Hanze University of Applied Sciences and I expect to finish my PhD in 2017. My research focus on 'Hospitality in Hospitals' and emphasizes on the influence of the built environment on human behavior related to satisfaction and human well-being.

Patients often experience uncertainty and anxiety in hospital settings and therefore I find it important to focus on the patients experience. I'm interested in how the built environments can contribute to human well-being during these stressful periods of life. How can we design a hospital that makes a hospital visit more pleasant and consequently improves the well-being of patients? We are getting answers on this question by questionnaires, observing and interviewing patients. But more importantly, by doing pre- and post-measurements we are able to test whether interventions actually influence patients satisfaction and well-being. Due to this research we are creating a bridge between research and design and are able to create the best hospital environments – Evidence Based Design.