Noise in hospitals Noise levels have steadily increased in hospitals over the last >40 years, both daytime and nighttime [1]. The noise level in operating rooms can be particularly difficult and research shows that this may affect the ability of the staff to perceive proper oral instruction; it also affects their perceived stress and well-being. […]
Healthcare
Effect of room acoustics on sound-field steady-state response (ASSR) measurements
PhD defense, effect of room acoustics Thursday the 28th of May 2020, Valentina Zapata-Rodriguez defended her PhD at DTU. Because of the Corona situation the PhD defense was planned to be online (on Teams) and I am impressed by the way Valentina handled this. Normally, you can interact with the audience and the committee in […]
Prevent arousals and awakenings in hospitals
In search of a noisy environment? Visit a hospital. Studies show that noise levels are high due to operational activities, communication, alarms, and noise from medical equipment, along with structural sounds from the building (such as ventilation and closing doors). Already back in 1859, nurse Florence Nightingale declared how “unnecessary noise is the cruelest abuse of […]
Diffuse sound fields in healthcare facilities?
Diffuse sound fields – calculate right! Some years ago Saint-Gobain Ecophon published a new tool for calculating room acoustics. The tool makes it possible for the user to see both Sabine calculations on reverberation time, speech clarity, and room gain. It makes it possible for the user also to see calculations based on air flow […]
What happens when music is part of healthcare?
How we react to sounds, for instance in the form of music, depends on and is filtered through aspects such as the environment, our genes, and not the least, our previous experiences with music. Music that is important to us is usually, and quite naturally, music that we have heard in the past. Let´s look […]
Room Acoustics play an important role in healthcare efficiency
Room acoustics is an important factor to create sound, healing environments. Having a proper indoor climate can raise productivity by more than 15%[1] For more than a decade, ‘Evidence-Based Design (EBD) has been part of our DNA regarding building healthcare facilities. When it comes to the indoor climate we know that lighting, air quality, and […]
Healthcare and hearing impairment
People who are cut off acoustically from the external world not only lose their hearing, they are at risk of becoming socially and intellectually isolated. The less stimulation the brain receives, the more quickly its capacity diminishes[1]. Hearing impairment is connected to more than just hearing. Hearing loss and mental health Research all over the […]
A good hospital is well built!
The population is aging, we are living longer and new methods of treatment are constantly emerging. Growth is sought in the productivity of nursing care and the skills it requires will be more demanding. This creates pressure to build resilient, functional, and technology-efficient hospital buildings with a long technical lifespan. Good facilities, their indoor climate, […]
Acoustic standards in hospitals – overview and thoughts
This is the world – we need acoustic standards! The Danish Cancer Foundation has concluded that traffic noise can lead to breast cancer and non-Hodgkins lymphoma. The Danish Ministry of Environment concludes that 500 Danes die every year because of traffic noise – because of diabetes, stress, and cardiovascular diseases caused by noise. The Danish […]
Our visual focus (part 1) – Ocularcentrism
It is often stated that modern society is overly focused on the visual. But is this true and why is it even important? And when it really comes down to it, aren’t we mainly just visual beings or are we missing something here? We hear it again and again, sentences like: “We are visual creatures,” […]
