Despite an individual’s illness or prognosis, advances in integrative medicine and holistic approaches to health care now consider the built environment to be a significant factor in enhancing health and maintaining optimum wellness. In fact, many medical professionals now widely consider the suitability of one’s home or workplace a key to managing the symptoms of health conditions, aging, or serious illnesses.
Environmental conditions are often a factor in the individual’s health, sometimes causing an illness, exacerbating an existing condition, or complicating severe symptoms accompanying a life-altering illness. In some cases, the environment can become unhealthy, compromise the body’s systems, and in some cases, become life threatening.