Patients’ emotions influence their quality and value ratings as well as what they tell their friends. High-emotion healthcare includes services related to major life events, some of which are at the top of the Holmes and Rahe scale of stressful life events that can contribute to illness. Fine-tuning the way healthcare services are delivered can make a big difference in patients’ satisfaction and outcomes.

What are high-emotion services?

Some healthcare events are much more emotionally charged than others. And, some diagnoses, like cancer or Alzheimer’s Disease, are more dreaded than others. Similarly, certain treatments are more feared—getting shots as opposed to pills, having surgery as opposed to physical therapy, and so on.

Some of the reasons these intense emotions are evoked include: