Patients’ experiences of written, spoken and visual menus in hospital

Many hospital patients are familiar with ticking boxes on a written menu to select their meal preferences each day. Although the written menu is used in many hospitals, filling it out can be challenging for patients, including those who are visually impaired, frail or confused, or those who speak or read little English. This means that patients may not get the foods that they prefer, putting them at risk of undernutrition.

Researchers from Monash University’s Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food explored hospital patients’ experiences of three meal-ordering systems – written, spoken and visual menus – in a recent study published in Nursing Standard. They found that patients responded positively to spoken and visual menus, where patients felt better cared for and had a clearer understanding of the meals they had selected, with meal orders better tailored to their needs.

“We wanted to find out what patients thought about using the written menu, and whether there was a better way to collect meal orders from patients” said PhD Candidate and researcher Ella Ottrey.

Spoken menus are when food service staff read menu options to patients, and visual menus involve showing patients images of food and drink items. 

The research found that meal quality and menu variety was important to patients, regardless of which meal-ordering system was used.

Those patients who received the spoken and visual menus appreciated the additional information provided by these systems, helping them make their meal selections and form more realistic expectations of what would be delivered at meal time.

Interestingly, Mrs Ottrey noted that “participants receiving the spoken and visual menus described how these systems promoted the sense of care and attention, adding the personal touch to meal ordering.” This sense of care and attention may contribute to a more positive patient experience during hospital stays.

Mrs Ottrey said that “hospitals should consider using spoken and visual menus as a way to offer a more personalised meal-ordering service and to improve patient satisfaction with hospital foodservices.” She added that “hospital foodservice departments should focus more on providing patients with adequate choice and information about menu options, and minimising the time between meal ordering and delivery.”

“This research has given us insight into what is important to patients with regards to meal ordering, as well as identifying some ways to improve hospital foodservices in the future.” Mrs Ottrey said.

The research team are now investigating staff, volunteer and visitor perspectives of hospital mealtimes, to learn more about the hospital mealtime environment and the practices of staff, volunteers and visitors.

Ella Ottrey is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council postgraduate scholarship.

Access the publication in Nursing Standard here.