I'd like to take you on a brief ride in my "attitude assent vehicle" so we can go up and take a look at the professional work of interior designers from a new and different perspective.

The perspective from which I am looking is the viewpoint of The Center for Health Design, a non-profit advocacy organization founded in 1993. From this perspective, I see that the human being is a very fragile and sensitive creature -- one that is in an exquisite relationship with its environment at all times. Now, this human being is not some abstract concept or statistic -- it is you and me. It is us, particularly when we turn up our "senso-meters" to their highest sensitivity calibration and take inventory of what it really feels like to be human.

The vision of The Center for Health Design is to create a new future. Our mission is to encourage the development of life-enhancing environments. As you can imagine, the reason for this vision and mission is because most of what we have built in the United States, especially since World War II, is not life-enhancing.

Fundamentally, to subscribe to this vision, one must "see" the possibility that life-enhancing environments can contribute to human health and well-being. This belief applies whether one is at home, at work, in a classroom, jogging on a nature trail, going to the supermarket or driving to the airport.

Our personal health and well-being is a reflection of the environments into which we put our bodies. Take a moment and look at the place where your body currently is. Are there live plants to absorb the local air pollution and infuse air with fresh oxygen? Are there distracting noises that rob your concentration and increase your stress? Do you inhabit a space polluted with colors not suited to your constitution? Does your accommodation provide you with a level of privacy that is suitable to your needs? Can you personalize your space to reflect your individuality? Does the space support your health and well-being? If it does, great -- this is unusual. If it doesn't, what are you willing to do about it?

The part that is most exciting to me about what I see is not that most of our environments don't really suit us. Rather, the exciting part is the possibility that these environments really can suit us, especially if we create the intention to have them do so. There are costs to consider: the costs of creating suitable environments that support our health and well-being; the cost of those that don't support our health and well-being; and the associated costs of the stress-induced illnesses that these unsupportive environments cause.

One year ago, there were almost 20,000 people in The Center for Health Design's network. Today, there are more than 25,000. It is encouraging for me to see so many people demonstrate an interest in better understanding how the design of the physical environment can be used to enhance health and well-being. But there are still so many to whom this possibility doesn't exist.

It is my understanding that professional interior designers provide services to only one percent of the American population. Promoting life-enhancing design is an extraordinary opportunity for design professionals to significantly expand their market share, provide a service that impacts the quality of people's lives (and isn't necessarily expensive) and increase the relevance of design. And, please note that pretty is not the criteria for enhancing health and well-being. It is from those who are embracing this exciting possibility that a new design aesthetic is being born.

The Center for Health Design is involved in producing resources to support and encourage this new design aesthetic, including publications, research, the annual Symposium on Healthcare Design, book lists, free technical support, a list of exemplary facilities and more. Participation in our network is free -- just send us your name and address and we'll add you to our mailing list. We welcome your involvement and support.

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