A five-senses perspective to quality in hospitals

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on research on the sensory perceptions that patients and bystanders experience during hospitalisation. Sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch influence both clinical outcomes and satisfaction. The paper offers suggestions to hospital management on ways to improve receivers’ sensory perceptions. Design/methodology/approach – Considering services as social interactions, a subjectivist view of reality is adopted and, accordingly, a qualitative research approach implemented. Data are collected through participant observation. Desk activity includes reasoned literature review, categorisation and model adaptation. Findings – A simplified system model for service provision in the hospital ward is proposed. A management tool is provided in the form of a check list that the ward management can employ to assess its service-provision system from a five-senses perspective. Research limitations/implications – The paper is affected by judgements subject to cultural biases. The validity of the management tool is still to be tested. Practical implications – Once up and running, the model and the check list will be able to guide health managers towards improvements of satisfaction, clinical outcomes and working environment. Originality/value – The paper represents an original effort to adapt tools already used in the commercial field to influence health service receivers’ perceptions positively. While the positive results of improvements to a single sensory perception have been well documented, an integrated approach has not been put forward previously in the health industry.