Impacts of hospitals users' characteristics on perceptions of the physical environment.

Recently hospital managers and designers become more interested in 'patient centered design' (PCD) through the integration of patients' perceptions and expectations of the hospitals' physical environment. This increased interest in PCD indicates the improved understanding of the impacts of hospital's physical environment on all users including patients, families and hospital staff. Literature shows that incorporating users' perceptions of the physical environment during the design process is very important to produce PCD.