The positive impact of nature on human health is often attributed to nature’s inherent stress reducing effects. As (chronic) stress has a well-known detrimental effect on health, it can directly or indirectly contribute to the epidemic of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, and mental disorders. How do we behave when feeling stressed? When we feel […]
healthcare
Healing environments – Care for Sound
Care for Sound symposium on healing, healthcare and it´s relation to sound! Healing environments can greatly impact a patient’s hospital stay Here are two examples from the UK Patient Opinion website: “There were no doors only curtains, the lady next to me coughed all night and the two patients next to her were snoring. The […]
Internoise 2016 – do we have the right standards for elderly care?
I had the privilege to present a paper at Internoise 2016 based on an intervention study in a dementia clinic in Munich. The study was done in collaboration with Saint-Gobain Ecophon, the Technical University of Munich, the acoustic company PMI and the architect company Dietz Health Care Facilities. Do we have the right standards for […]
Fight, flight, or safety? The impact of alarming sounds on healthcare professionals
Fight, flight, or safety? Humans respond very well to sounds, and our hearing is created to protect us. To guide us in understanding what is going on we have our ears, our own built-in ‘watchdogs’ . It quickly determine where a sound comes from, and whether a situation should activate our fight or flight mode. […]
NEW! Revision of the German room acoustic standard 2016
Dr. Christian Nocke presenting an overview for the new DIN18041 German standard at EIAS2016 Incorporating the international human rights treaty The revision of the German room acoustic standard DIN18041:2016-03 was released in March. Therefor the old edition from 2004 was withdrawn. One main reason for new and updated content was adapting the international human rights […]
Hospital sound environments – we can make them sound better!
Sound environments – hospitals are noisy Often very noisy. Hardly ever even close to the maximum limit of 35 dB set by the World Health Organization (WHO) that would be considered a healing sound environment. Both patients and staff can be adversely affected by this noisy sound environment. The growing number of technological devices, an […]
Soundscapes – I think that acoustics are a bit overrated!
Soundscapes: Safe and Sound Kirsten Van den Bosh spoke under the title ‘Safe and Sound’ at EIAS 2015 and even though she mentioned that it was nearly blasphemy to say “I think that acoustics are a bit overrated!” during an international acoustic conference, she might have a point. Kirsten’s research focuses on soundscapes in special needs […]
Why vertical acoustics matter in Healthcare
Vertical acoustics an important asset in healthcare National standards in the Healthcare are lacking In many countries, national standards, regulations, and guidelines are lacking in the healthcare segment. One could therefore say that in many cases building hospitals, elderly care homes, and psychiatric wards is the ‘wild west’ regarding acoustics. We are lucky when new […]
Impact of noise in Healthcare premises
Healthcare premises: reflections on sound by hospital staff Children crying. Alarms beeping. Verbal communication. Footsteps. Healthcare premises are often complex sound environments and the cognitive load on staff is getting more and more challenging. Despite this, nurses and doctors rarely complain if the acoustics are not suitable for the activities – because their number one […]
The most promising conferences of 2016
The end of the year means reviews and evaluations but also planning for the year ahead – see the most promising conferences of 2016. There’s no shortage of conferences and seminars delivering opportunities for professional development, networking, interesting research presentations, and much more. But which do you pick? Here’s our shortlist of the most […]
