26-28 September 2012 Healthcare without Harm organized CleanMed – creating healing environments – conference on sustainable healthcare. The conference gathered healthcare providers, sustainability organizations, and medical and building material suppliers to discuss and share successful initiatives from many different perspectives. The topics included diverse presentations from wastewater management to how to communicate internally to engage […]
Study on well-being, productivity and leadership in open offices
(foto: Martin Palven) Lately there has been great focus on a yet not published research made by Aram Seddigh, scientist in offices from Stress Research Institute Stockholm University, with over 3000 persons interviewed about wellbeing, productivity and leadership. 45 % are not satisfied sitting i open office! The research is divided into 3 parts. The […]
Sleep in the ICU – review of current knowledge
A new article on the current knowledge of sleep disturbances in the ICU was featured in the latest issue of Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavia. Sleep disturbances in the ICU environment are a significant problem and have many underlying causes. However are a difficult phenomenon to observe due to the physical status of the patient group. This […]
What is up with Noises?
If you are into sound, music and mathematics then this creative film will really tick all the boxes! Vi Hart describes herself as a recreational mathemusician – and visualises how our perception of music and sound are linked to our anatomy.
Too noisy to sleep? Let the hospital know
Nighttime noise can be devastating and too noisy to recover during a hospital stay. Silent Hospitals Help Healing Through its Silent Hospitals Help Healing Committee, the Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix is making a conscious effort to improve the sound situation in the hospital by involving the patients. By sending “noise alerts” when […]
Updated standard for Kindergartens in Germany
The 2009 Revision of the so called “Unfallverhütungsvorschrift Kindertageseinrichtungen” (GUV-V S2) includes a new paragraph regarding building and room acoustics. Whenever you build or refurbish a Kindergarten the room acoustic is a must have for the first time in Germany. It is no matter if it is a public or private Kindergarten the “Unfallverhütungsvorschrift” is […]
Comparison of two primary school classrooms before and after acoustical treatment
Arianna Astolfi Arianna Astolfi, from researcher in Building Physics and building services at Politecnico di Torino, Italy, was presenting the results on speech intelligibility and measurements performed in a primary laboratory-classroom before and after a sound absorption acoustical treatment. She concluded that the correlation between speech intelligibility and objective parameters are obtained for children of […]
Noise in the Neonatal Intensive Care unit (NICU)
In “Challenging Designs of Neonatal Intensive Care Units“, Anne Marie Dazé Floyd, RN, MSN, CNS says: “A link has been established between exposure to constant room noise and loss in frequency and pattern discrimination essential to understanding the spoken word. Loss of the ability to discriminate speech can cause profound developmental delay by interfering with […]
Patients risk sleep problems from noise in Critical Care units
Critical care unit (CCU) noise may put patients at risk of sleep problems The study, by M Topf and M Bookman at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, says that technological advances in CCUs are contributing to this problem and that the results provide support for the hypothesis that critical care unit sound levels […]
Campaign to reduce noise in Neonatal Units
Reduce noise Birmingham Women’s Hospital NHS Trust took part in a regional campaign to raise awareness of noise levels in Neonatal Units and the need to reduce noise. Led by Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Cheryl Lewis, the campaign highlighted the impact noise can have on babies. It included staff training, posters, badges, and the use […]