How sensory experiences impact healthcare.

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Sensory
VETYVER
Sensory Healthcare

2. Our senses enable us to identify danger, judge safety and feel pleasure and joy. They
have strong physiological and emotional effect.
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Much of our ability to fight illness and endure treatment rests in our mental and
emotional state, so we believe being cognisant of and tapping into the power of the
senses should be a fundamental consideration when creating health environments.
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Our ambition is to create environments which are not only more engaging, delightful,
distracting and appealing, but which can play a positive role in pain management,
perceived waiting time, recovery times and our emotional response to diagnosis,
treatment and medication. Patients, visitors and staff will all benefit from
consideration of their experience and environment.
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SENSORY

3. Memory, performance, attention, and our sense of wellbeing are dramatically altered
by the olfactory landscape. Our sense of smell is a powerful force yet the vast
majority of ambient scents are incidental. The olfactory imprint of a hospital is
complex, created by cleaning products; food and drink; storage and disposal;
treatments, medication; carpets; flooring; static; furniture; bed linen; humidity and
temperature; and of course the people within it.
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The addition of smell in medical environments has been shown to influence anxiety
and depression; reduce perceived pain and perceived waiting time; and increase
physical and mental tolerance.
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Cancer patients undergoing stressful Magnetic Resonance Imaging reported 63% less
anxiety when subjected to a floral heliotropin scent but promoting calm can benefit
the hospital beyond the treatment room. Your staff are key in creating a sense of
security and calm in the hospital one study of an emergency unit found that
frustration rates dropped from 60% to 6% by adding a smell. Fragrance can
significantly enhance performance and productivity in work-related tasks across all
industries and spaces.
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Smell instantly recalls and replays the emotion associated with the smell, a
phenomenon particularly significant to highly emotionally charged environments such
as hospitals. How many times have you heard people describe their fear of hospitals
in conjunction with their smell? Orchestrating this allows you to set the tone and
mood and create a calm space that works to aid the treatment of patients.
SMELL

4. Taste works intimately with smell, sight, sound and touch and it’s particularly
influenced by expectation and environment. How does Tuscan wine taste at home
without the vista of rolling hills, the sound of crickets, a gentle breeze, warm sun and
the distinctive light and colours of the Tuscan landscape?
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Eating is essential, but it is also one of our greatest sensual pleasures and without it
life is bland. Our relationship with food is related to nourishment, ritual, lifestyle,
economy, community, culture and emotions. Thought and consideration should
extend beyond the kitchen and catering to compliment your whole healthcare
offering. How can the food on offer inject joy into people’s routine whilst at the same
time complementing treatment and providing antidotes to exhaustion, nausea, stress
and boredom?
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What ceremonies are involved? What tastes are synonymous with location or
experience? How do you extend taste into each aspect of the patients and visitors
time with you. People eat in their beds, rooms, on the ward or in dedicated catering
areas. but are the rooms and service designed for this?
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Like popcorn at the movies, taste has the potential to be integral to an experience
with huge potential for positive benefits.
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TASTE

5. We use touch to understand the world around us and gain pleasure through tactile
experience. Through touch, things become real. The way something feels is essential
to good design and can be as definitive as visual identity.
We believe that touch is also much broader than the tangible physical. The satisfying
click of a door handle or weight of a telephone can promote a sensory reassurance,
comfort and security. Furniture can dictate posture, mood, comfort and activity levels.
Temperature affects people’s experience of a space, sense of comfort, and this should
change by time of day or season.
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Your staff, patients and visitors experience your hospital from the inside, interact with
it and touch it. At every point you have the ability to control this and guide them
through a sensual experience, promote relaxation and comfort whilst maintaining and
aiding function.
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TOUCH

6. Our response to sound is primitive and immediate, it is instantly engaging. Music,
voice and sounds define mood, tone and pace, and can transcend cultural and
language barriers and stories. Without being cognisant, acoustics inform and define
our sense of safety and comfort and enable us to navigate the world around us.
The written word and storytelling are at the heart of every culture and community
and part of the ‘noise’ around us.
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The effects of music are physiological: it affects heart rate, blood pressure, mood, and
breathing, brain waves, brain circulation and stress hormones and can have a direct
affect on mental health. It has been used in therapy to treat shell shock and
depression and has been found to reduce perception of acute and chronic pain and
increase tolerance.
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Your soundscape is composed of voices, machines, motion, doors, acoustics,
operations, clocks, lifts, bells, traffic, climate control, music, floorings and furnishings,
and so on. It changes with the time of day, pace and rhythm of the hospital.
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Making a noise needs to be carefully considered. Listen to your space and orchestrate
the experience. Where do you want silence and where could the space benefit from a
sense of energy? Where do you need to silence ambient audio or alter the acoustics
and where do you want to add sound. Sound also offers great opportunities as a
mnemonic, navigation tool. The auditory landscape is a powerful instrument in your
hands.
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HEAR

7. The visual landscape is the most familiar sensual territory. Images communicate
complex stories, emotions, styles, clues, impressions, recognition, associations and
moods: all in an instant. Use of colour, lighting, shape and imagery can all contribute
to the overall feel and function of a space and our team has grown up in the design
industry with extensive experience in identity design and communications,
wayfinding, interior design and brand communications.
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What is often not considered is the power sight can have within a hospital: simply
having access to a window can vastly improve a patient's experience and recovery
from surgery, resulting in lower perceived pain and earlier release from hospital.
Effective use of colour, too, has been reported to create a positive physiological effect,
suppressing respiration and heart rates.
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The other consideration often neglected is how sight works with the other senses in
order to increase its emotional impact.
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SEE

8. How does your hospital feel? Each sense is individually important, but it’s the
interplay between them that is key to getting this right. The way we relate to a space
or experience is subtle, complex and instinctive. Smell, sound, taste and sight are
inter-dependant, and we shouldn’t keep the volume high on all the senses all the time.
The result is overwhelming and uncomfortable.
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Your staff are the human face of your brand and key part of this. How are they
dressed? How do they move? What language do they use? Do they have autonomy to
make decisions. What do they say and how do they say it? What is the tone of voice
in your communications? What is the pace and theatre in the environment, does it
inspire or does it intimidate?
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From entry to an emergency room, to checking out and returning, your staff, patients
and visitors are on a journey and you are in control of this at every touch point.
Communications, tone of voice, sensory experience, theatre, appreciation and flow
are all part of defining their experience.
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Institutions charged with targets and shareholders frequently forget to think and feel
as a person or put themselves in someone else’s shoes and to trust their instincts. In a
situation where you are charged with health and wellbeing, this should be a primary
consideration.
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You are in control.
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FEEL

9. The services we offer are designed to develop and improve the entire experience. We offer
strategy, creative and implementation services and our work for the healthcare sector
includes:
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SENSORY AUDIT & MAP: In order to consciously control your space, it is critical to get a
clear snapshot of how it is experienced. Audits often highlight some surprising discoveries.
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SMELL: Bespoke ambient scent, toiletries, scenting linen and clothes storage, consultancy
and bespoke projects.
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HEAR: Sonic strategy, creative approach, playlists, composition, soundscapes, sonic
mnemonics, audio documentaries, audio signposting, sound spotlights and curtains,
acoustics, tone of voice guidelines, written communications, scripts, storytelling,
consultancy.
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TASTE: Consultancy and creative development, catering strategy and menus and design
around F&B.
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SEE: Art curation and commissioning, identity design, wayfinding, interiors, comms,
lighting, colour, imagery and uniforms.
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TOUCH AND FEEL: Tactile landscapes, brand and staff training, service level strategy and
standards, customer journeys, reviewing business processes, digital, brand films, events
and theatrical performances, photography, installations.
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VETYVER

10. VETYVER is a Sensory Agency. We offer strategy, creative and implementation services
across all sensory areas. Every project is different.
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We are driven by your organisation, your brand and your ‘customers’ and the opportunities
to strengthen the bond between the two. That journey can take us anywhere.
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Our extensive experience in brand strategy, brand management and creative direction
underpins everything we do. We have specialist consultants in each field and we draw on
our extensive black book of perfumers, musicians, curators, directors, designers,
photographers, artists, producers, artists, creatives and experts in each area.
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Please contact claire@vetyver.co.uk for more information.
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VETYVER