Noise in hospitals Noise levels have steadily increased in hospital over the last >40 years, both day time and night time [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 […]
PhD defence Thursday the 28th of May 2020, Valentina Zapata-Rodriguez defended her PhD at DTU. Because of the Corona situation the PhD defence 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 an auditorium – but […]
In search for 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 most cruel abuse […]
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 – AND it makes it possible for the user also to see calculations based on air flow resistivity (AFR). […]
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 of music. Music that is important to us is usually, and quite naturally, music that we have heard in the past. What happens […]
Having a proper indoor climate can raise productivity more than 15%[1] For more than decade, ‘Evidence Based Design’ (EBD) has been part of our DNA in regards to building healthcare facilities. When it comes to indoor climate we know that lighting, air quality and acoustics are crucial parameters in healing architecture together with biophilic designs […]
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 loss and mental health Research all over the world discusses the links between hearing loss and […]
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 […]
This is the world! 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 cardio vascular diseases caused by noise. The Danish Road Directorate concludes that […]
To investigate what impact room acoustics have on staff and patients an intervention study was done in a dementia clinic in Århus, Denmark. The study was part of a BA project at The Technical University of Denmark[1]. The room that was used for the study was an office where the doctors do cognitive testing of […]