Judging a Book by Its Cover

Abstract

The study examines the relationship between the appearance of medical building exteriors and judgments of the perceived care that would be delivered in and the expected comfort level that would be felt in those facilities. In all, 188 college students viewed 34 slides of the exteriors of medical facilities. Using visual analogue scales, participants rated the perceived quality of care and expected comfort level for each facility and provided brief written comments to explain their ratings. Factor analyses yielded 3 parallel Care and Expected Comfort factors, labeled Traditional House type, Brick Office type, and Large Medical type, and a fourth Expected Comfort factor, labeled Low Budget Emphasis. Respondents rated facilities of the Large Medical type to be highest in both quality of care and expected comfort. Results are discussed in terms of current trends in the architecture of health care facilities and recommendations for practitioners.

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