Hospital Radio plays an important part in our lives, providing an imperative service to those of us in hospital across the United Kingdom. Radio Horton is the hospital radio station serving patients at the Horton General Hospital in Banbury. We are proud to be able to provide a form of entertainment that hopefully will help to improve your journey through hospital.
As a member station of the Hospital Broadcasting Association (HBA) we are part of something much bigger, a wider community of hospital radio stations serving hospitals all across the country, which are staffed entirely by volunteers. To date, there has been little research or investigation into hospital radio, and its impacts and outcomes on patient experience, something which the HBA has recently delved into, with the aim of providing information to stations to help provide a better quality of service for patients and that their needs are met.
At the HBA’s Annual Conference & Awards Ceremony in Watford in 2016, we learnt that the HBA have conducted independent research on the impact of hospital radio. The study was conducted in association with more than 250 people, which included patients, staff and hospital radio volunteers.
The study found evidence to suggest that hospital radio stations can have an impact on psychosocial health outcomes in the following ways:
- Boredom reduced by entertainment Loneliness reduced by social interaction
- Anxiousness / frustration reduced by being calming and reassuring
- Disorientation reduced by creating a sense of belonging
- Depersonalisation reduced by making one feel like an individual
- Health and wellbeing awareness increased by providing information
But what exactly does this mean, and how can hospital radio have an impact on patient experience?
The Hospital Broadcasting Association’s Impact Study looked at six different impact measures of hospital radio, including: Entertainment; Social interaction; Calming and Reassuring; Creating a sense of belonging; Feel like an individual and Health and wellbeing.
Further reading, including a copy of the full report can be downloaded from the HBA’s website (see hyperlink below). We at Radio Horton think it makes for very interesting reading and its evidence suggests that hospital radio does improve patient experience through a variety of methods, by playing a patient their favourite song; visiting patients and chatting to them on the wards, which enables social interaction; entertainment from presenters, that helps to create a distraction from the four walls of a hospital ward, to name a few.
So, if you’re considering becoming involved with hospital radio, why not become part of a great team of volunteers at Radio Horton and help make a difference to our family of patients here at the Horton General Hospital. Read more about our Volunteering Opportunities or come along to one of our Open Evenings to find out more.
Download the Report: www.hbauk.com/impact
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