Comfortable seating: The influence of seating comfort and acoustic comfort on customers' experience of hospitality in a self-service restaurant.

Does comfort in a restaurant influence people's experienced hospitality? Effects of seating comfort and acoustic comfort on the experience of hospitality were examined by means of a 2 x 2 between subjects experiment among 262 customers of a self-service restaurant, using the EH-scale measuring the experiential factors care, comfort and inviting. In line with theory on embodiment, MANOVA and mediation analysis showed that comfortable seating positively influences mental comfort, which subsequently increases the experience of hospitality (comfort factor). Extra ambient sound (acoustic discomfort) cancels out this effect.

When the world is closing in: effects of perceived room brightness and communicated threat during patient-physician interaction.

Objective: The study proposes that room brightness creates impressions of a more spacious environment and that this perception positively impacts feelings and behaviors during high-threat conversations in particular.

Background: To a large extent healthcare providers depend on their patients' willingness to disclose information. In addition to characteristics related to the physician and topic of conversation, research indicates that environmental factors influence patients' affective experiences and self-disclosure.

Exploring space in the consultation room: environmental influences during patient-physician interaction.

Patients' disclosure of personal information is a key factor in health communication. Research shows that the environment can affect self-disclosure. The 2 studies reported in this article set out to examine the effects of the perceived spaciousness of a consultation room on patient readiness to communicate personal information to his or her physician.

Physical environmental stimuli that turn healthcare facilities into healing environments through psychologically mediated effects: systematic review.

Aim: This paper reports a systematic review to determine the effects of physical environmental stimuli in healthcare settings on the health and well-being of patients.

Background: The concept of healing environments suggests that the physical environment of the healthcare setting can encourage the healing process and patients' feelings of well-being. Understanding the effects of physical environmental stimuli will allow us to design healthcare environments that generate these potential health benefits.

On the enhancement of efficiency in care for cancer patients in outpatient clinics: an instrument to accelerate psychosocial screening and referral.

Many cancer patients experience psychosocial problems that go unnoticed by caregivers. To improve this situation, an instrument has been developed and tested to identify such problems. This instrument, the integral checklist, was put to the test in two outpatient departments of different hospitals with an intervention and a control group (105 and 124 patients, respectively).