There has been little research on social environments created by spatial arrangements in health care and how these social environments may affect the nature of health care. This article describes changes in the social environment of a renal dialysis clinic that were created by an alteration in the spatial arrangements. It wasfound that changes occurred in the communication between staff and patients, the communication among patients, and the communication between patients and visitors. These changes in turn raised questions about the quality of care available to patients.
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