Hope.

You can’t see it with your eyes.

But what if you could?

What if you could pick up a piece of hope and carry it with you? Like a talisman. A guardian angel you could carry in your pocket or place on a table by your bed so it’s the first thing you see when you wake up. Always there to give you a little inspiration when you need it most.

The care team at Orlando Health UF Health Cancer Center has figured out a way to do just that.

They’ve figured out a way to leave little talismans of hope for patients who are going through cancer treatments using rocks, paint, and a little creativity.

These “Hope Rocks” are painted by members of the Care Team and are left in spots all over the hospital for patients and families to discover and take with them.

Hope Rocks

A rock symbolizes strength, firmness, stability, and faithfulness. Your care team has hand-crafted this rock as a gift for you. We believe hope is very powerful and is the only thing stronger than fear! Please accept this memento as a reminder that you are STRONG and you have people who CARE about you. We’re fighting for you and wish you the STRENGTH, COURAGE, and most of all HOPE to persevere through the days ahead.

Sincerely,
Orlando Health UF Health Cancer Center.

Powerful.

Everyone is focused on trying to make the patient experience better. But sometimes the solution is simple. Sometimes the solution is right in front of us. We just need to pay better attention.

There are so many ways to improve the patient experience. Some are really costly and take a lot of time to implement. But there are so many things we can do right now that are so simple and so inexpensive that we often don’t even think of them because they’re so obvious.

Remarkable patient or customer experiences aren’t the result of one big thing.

Remarkable patient or customer experiences happen because of all the little things that happen along the way.

It’s in the little moments — like Hope Rocks — where we can touch someone’s heart. And possibly give them a reason to smile and help them feel a little less alone. Isn’t this part of what makes a patient’s experience great? Isn’t this what we’re all after? Whether we’re the patient or the employee or the family member, we all want to have a meaningful human experience.

The cost of a bucket of rocks and some paint is about $25. But what’s the impact? What’s the value? Kudos to the Care Team at Orlando Health UF Health Cancer Center. They show us that you can’t really put a price tag on hope. And they show us that hope really does rock.

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What are some low-cost and low effort things you can do at your hospital or healthcare systems that will have a big impact on the patient experience? Think outside the box! Drawing smiley faces on bandages with permanent pen or marker. Flowers for patients getting mammograms. Free popsicles for patients who just had their tonsils removed. Drop us a line at info@wecreateloyalty.com and let us know some of your best ideas.