I can't get no.... Satisfaction

Despite the title, I'm not about to launch into a Rolling Stones sing-a-long. I often get asked the question, ‘what exactly is food service satisfaction’ and this is one of the best ways I have found to explain it.

Think about the last time you went out to dinner, what was the first thing you noticed when you walked into the restaurant? What was the ambience like? Was it too loud and difficult to have a conversation with your friends? What was the lighting like? Was it too bright or too dim? What was the attitude of the person who seated you? Where they polite or indifferent?

You’ve been seated at your table and been provided with a menu. Do you have any special dietary requirements? Was there enough choices on the menu for you? Were the foods familiar or were there a lot of dishes with complicated names that weren’t really helpful? How long did you have to wait before someone took your order? Did you ask any questions regarding the menu? Were the staff helpful?

So you successfully ordered and the staff place your food in front of you. The first thing you notice is the plating, did it look appealing or was it slopped on a plate? What was the portion like? Was it too large or too small? Were there delicious aromas wafting up to greet you enticing you to eat? Was it the right temperature or was it cold by the time it reached you? What was the texture like? Were the salads crisp or sad and limp? Was the meat tender or tough and dry? Did you have a choice of condiments? Last, but not least, how did it taste?

The really interesting thing about satisfaction is that it can mean different things to different people. I’m quite sensitive to loud, clanging noises so being seated near the kitchen will reduce my overall satisfaction even if the food is good. Similarly I am a vegetarian, if the only option on the menu is hot chips, it really doesn’t matter how good those chips are, I’m going to be less satisfied because it was a default choice.

What happens when you aren’t satisfied with the food? We have a few options. We can walk out, complain, but most commonly we choose not to go back again.

What if you had to eat at the same restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner, day after day after day and you weren’t happy with the food service? For some residents, this is their reality.

They may be required to eat in dining rooms that are loud, or they may not like where they are seated (or who they are seated with). There could be nurses trying to dispense medications while they are eating. They may not have had any choice and provided with a default meal. It may be too cold by the time they get to eat it. Or they may get served all three courses at once so the ice cream is a puddle by the time they get to it.

Understanding and measuring satisfaction is an essential component to improving the food service in aged care.