Consumers' perceptions of hospital food and dietary services.
1990
DeLuco D. | Cremer M.
Consumers' perceptions of the quality of hospital food, food-related service, clinical service, and their importance were determined through telephone interviews with 223 adults randomly selected from an urban county in Ohio. Respondents (>65%) indicated that hospital food was of good quality for characteristics of taste, aroma, appearance, tenderness, cold temperature, freshness, and nutrient value. A substantial majority (>74%) said that foodservice was dependable and accurate and that foodservice employees were helpful, cheerful, and considerate. These food and service characteristics were thought (>71%) to be important to hospital meals, and a very large number (>87%) of respondents considered these characteristics to be important to their hospitalization. About half (50.2%) viewed them as important in selecting a hospital. More than 82% thought registered dietitians were informative, helpful, and available to educate patients. Almost all (>95%) considered nutrition counseling important to health care in the community. Of 17 quality characteristics considered, 14 were positively correlated (p<.05) with the level of satisfaction with hospitalization. The three characteristics that were not significantly correlated with satisfaction were cold food being at the right temperature, meals looking delicious, and employees being cheerful.
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