Perceived Hospital Environment Quality Indicators: A comparison among General Surgery Units The conceptual framework of this study roots on the "humanization" construct, which refers to design care for specific users’ needs (such as comfort, welcome, orienteering, and privacy), in order to reduce users’ uneasiness and promote their health The main goals of the study concern the validation of a short version of the scales measuring the Perceived Hospital Environment Quality Indicators (PHEQIs) (labeled in Italian "Indicatori di Umanizzazione Ospedaliera Percepita" - IUOP), and the confirmation of differences between high- vs. low-humanized hospital environments in PHEQIs and satisfaction. Study participants (N = 233) were inpatients, visitors and staff of three General Surgery Units (included in different hospitals of Cagliari), which differed for their degree of "objective" spatial-physical humanization (rated by design experts who filled in a checklist). Hospital users filled in a questionnaire including the scales measuring the PHEQIs and the global satisfaction toward the hospital unit. Results show that the better the "objective" quality of the setting, the higher are both users’ global satisfaction toward the hospital experience and perceived quality of spatialphysical (i.e., care for the spatial aspects, sensorial comfort, welcome, and views) and social- organizational (i.e., organizational clarity, privacy, and staff qualities) features.
Keywords: Perceived environmental quality; hospital humanization; patients, visitors, and staff; spatial-physical features; social-organizational features.