Turn Your TV Into a Wellness Tool

When we talk with the owners of healthcare facilities, there is almost always one goal they say is a top priority: improving patient experience. We are so glad that the industry is trending positively toward patient well-being and looking for ways to improve patient experience in healthcare settings. We have been big advocates of this for quite some time and have deep expertise in the excellent, cost-effective solutions that can help you do this. Here is how a healthcare TV, in particular, can help increase patient well-being and elevate the all-around experience at your facility. 

1. Sense of control. 

If you have spent five minutes with us, you have heard us mention Ulrich’s Theory of Supportive Design. But this isn’t the only resource that identifies a sense of control as a crucial component to patient well-being. In fact, a study from Iowa State University found that a sense of control was one of five key wellness criteria for healthcare patients. The findings cite simple actions like giving a patient control over the volume and programming of televisions to be a helpful (and easy) way to make them feel more comfortable. You can further offer a semblance of control through menu choices made available via an interactive device and/or environmental options (e.g. dimming of the lights, playing white noise from a sound soother, etc.). Every little bit counts. 

2. Positive distractions. 

The research from Iowa State University also found that positive distractions were important in boosting patient well-being. This is yet another way in which a hospital patient room TV can become an actual tool for wellness. Interactive healthcare TVs give you an opportunity to share “information related to health management,” which the study found “can make users feel more comfortable and free from stressful events while they wait.” They can also be programmed to offer entertaining content to patients, the viewing of which can be under their control (thus delivering two elements of well-being at once). With robust, interactive capabilities that are entirely customized based on cues from patient data, a TV gets transformed from a basic device into a supportive and healing mechanism for the patient. 

3. Better experience. 

The takeaway? By focusing on one area like the interactive TV, multiple elements of the patient experience can be elevated and improved. The goal should be to inform, entertain, and support patients on their way toward better health. Ultimately, patients’ well-being and recovery are largely dependent upon their frame of mind, which can be positively impacted by the AV solutions, content, and choices your facility provides them.