The environment psychiatric patients create for themselves: the varying perceptions of professional staff

AIMS AND METHODS A pilot study was undertaken to investigate whether there was evidence that professional staffs' perception of a patient's environment were significantly altered by certain variables. RESULTS Gender and, to a lesser extent, age were found to be variables that significantly affect the perception of a patient's personal environment. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS Psychiatrists and other mental health professionals should be aware that there may be significant differences between the way individual professionals perceive the same visual environment. Psychiatry may benefit from future links with environmental psychology research.