Social support refers to emotional support and tangible assistance that a person receives from others. Much research has shown across a wide variety of situations that persons who receive higher social support generally experience less stress and have better health than those who are more socially isolated (Shumaker and Czajkowski, 1994). Studies of several different categories of patients have indicated that social support improves, for example, recovery outcomes in myocardial infarction patients, and survival length in patients with metastatic cancer (e.g. Spiegel et al. 1989). Despite a shortage of research focusing directly on healthcare facility design, the evidence showing benefits of social support across other health-relevant contexts is so convincing that it seems clearly justified to suggest that design promoting social support for patients should tend to mitigate stress and improve other outcomes (Ulrich, 1991, 2000a, 2000b).