Time in Care
The patient experience is often defined less by pain and more by time.
Time spent waiting….
for doctors, for nurses, for procedures, for prescriptions
for recovery
I used to volunteer in inpatient hospital units and spent hours sitting with patients who could not move much, often elderly patients recovering from injuries or simply too tired to do more than rest. They would lie in the same hospital bed for days, or even weeks, on end. I remember one patient laying in bed, TV off, staring at the ceiling. She said “There’s nothing to do… I’ve watched so much TV since coming here, I can’t watch anymore.” Her words stayed with me, changing the way I thought about care.
A Shift in Focus
While volunteering in hospitals, I began to notice more than just illness; I was noticing the environment. The air, the sterile, chemical smells, the constant background hum, a claustrophobic stillness masked by busy hospital activity. I dreaded being in the hospital despite not even being the patient. I wanted to change the feel and experience of being a patient.
I want my work to make healthcare feel human again. Care used to focus on connection, built on trust and intentional relationships between doctors and patients. Doctors listened, noticed, and truly understood a person beyond their symptoms. The world we live in now increasingly values efficiency, but healing is rarely efficient. It is slow, emotional, and deeply personal. Many people are invested in their health, yet once they enter the clinical environment, they lose their sense of control. Through design, I hope to give them small ways to participate in their own care, encouraging curiosity, imagination, and presence even when their bodies cannot move freely.
In healthcare, aesthetics should matter. It is not just decorative; it is a way of engaging with the world, shaping how things affect and move us. Medical spaces do not need to be entertaining, but they should invite engagement. The look, sound, and feel of a space can quickly change how patients perceive their illness and their sense of agency within the healthcare system.
I became interested in the possibility of transforming medical moments through play and imagination. I explored how clinical spaces might invite curiosity, provide comfort, or spark a sense of wonder. I want to remind people that patients in hospitals are not just receiving treatment, but living within environments that shape how they feel. Spaces of play and engagement can become gentle invitations back to the present moment. Healing should go beyond physical recovery, evolving into a process of rediscovering presence, curiosity, and life.
As we remain cognitively fit later into life, limited only by our physical bodies, our expectations for meaningful engagement and entertainment in elderly hospital rooms are rapidly changing.
Through Within Reach, I am trying to design a care environment that supports curiosity, expression, and connection through interaction that is accessible, open-ended, and playful.