VSensory

VETYVER

Sensory Healthcare

Our senses enable us to identify danger, judge safety and feel pleasure and joy. They

have strong physiological and emotional effect.

!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.

!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. !

SENSORY

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.

!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.

!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.

!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

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?

!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?

!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?

!Like popcorn at the movies, taste has the potential to be integral to an experience

with huge potential for positive benefits. !

TASTE

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.

!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.

!!

TOUCH

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.

!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.

!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.

!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.

!!!

HEAR

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.

!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.

!The other consideration often neglected is how sight works with the other senses in

order to increase its emotional impact.

!!!

SEE

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.

!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?

!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.

!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.

!You are in control. !!!!!

FEEL

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:

!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.

!SMELL: Bespoke ambient scent, toiletries, scenting linen and clothes storage, consultancy

and bespoke projects.

!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.

!TASTE: Consultancy and creative development, catering strategy and menus and design

around F&B.

!SEE: Art curation and commissioning, identity design, wayfinding, interiors, comms,

lighting, colour, imagery and uniforms.

!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. !!!!!!

VETYVER

VETYVER is a Sensory Agency. We offer strategy, creative and implementation services

across all sensory areas. Every project is different.

!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.

!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.

!Please contact claire@vetyver.co.uk for more information.

!!!!!!!

VETYVER