There is an increasing amount of research on the application of color design in hospital environments. However, there remains a lack of systematic review studies on the effectiveness of improving the quality of medical spaces and patient rehabilitation experiences, particularly a comprehensive analysis of past research patterns and trends. This study reviewed the literature on color design in hospital environments and patient rehabilitation experience, and conducted quantitative and qualitative analyses of a total of 21 relevant papers by searching keywords in the Web of Science (WOS) database. The qualitative analysis identified five final themes: (1) Art therapy applications, (2) Colour and light effects, (3) Paediatric environmental design, (4) Integration of cultural traditions, and (5) Multisensory spatial design. These findings offer new perspectives and frameworks to inform the future application of color in medical environments, thereby supporting the development of humanized and comfortable medical spaces.
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