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, […]
hospital
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 […]
American healthcare acoustics research presented at ICA 2019
Healthcare acoustics on the agenda What a privilege to attend ICA this year. Not only were we invited to a concert in the cathedral of Aachen but in the healthcare acoustics session, we had the opportunity to explore research from all over the world. Including 3 American papers on both noise reduction in neonatal care, […]
Robot assisting the surgeon in the Operating Room!
One of our editors, Swedish Concept Developer Healthcare, Maria Quinn – had the opportunity to be present during a robot assisting the surgeon in the Operating Room. Here are her thoughts and reflections on the sound environment in such a specialized area. Robotic surgery Robotic surgery, or robot-assisted surgery, allows doctors to perform many types […]
Care closer to Home
Research and evaluation for care closer to home Across Europe, we need health systems focused on care closer to the patient. Chronic illness and multi-morbidity – particularly concerning older citizens – means that care models must respond appropriately! Hospitals remain important and valued institutions, but citizens need access to timely intervention and treatment at a […]
Hospitals. Noise. Sleep. Finally an acoustic standard!
New acoustic standard for hospitals in Denmark This year a new acoustic standard for hospitals will be approved in Denmark. Up until now there has only been some rough guidelines (not mandatory). The acoustic demand will be on reverberation time. The value will be 0.6 sec. in e.g. patient rooms, examination rooms and corridors. There […]
The healing sounds of music
Can music therapy improve the sound environment for patients in hospitals? And how does it affect the patient experience when a healing sound environment is present? We’ve invited US-based Anne Taylor, CEO of Scandic Health and Registered Nurse. Scandic Health is offering music therapy, MusiCure – Music as Medicine, which is composed by the Danish […]
Danish study: 97% of hospital staff are sometimes disturbed by noise
Danish study on healthcare facilities. Presentation day Today I had the pleasure of attending a presentation day at DTU (Technical University of Denmark) arranged by the Electro Department under the title: Acoustic Technology & Centre for Acoustic-Mechanical Micro Systems. The speakers were mainly PhD students and Postdocs and the topics varied from ‘Loudspeaker Array Auralisations […]
Improve sound environments in operating modules
Designing hospitals is a challenging task; anyone ever involved in such a project knows that! An increasing trend in Sweden, and probably other countries too, is to use ready-made modules for specialist areas. I have had the privilege to visit various building sites and completed projects where ready-made modules for Operating Rooms (OR) were used. […]
‘Good’ and ‘bad’ healthcare acoustics
The sound environment impacts our well-being. In healthcare, patients and staff are seen to both feel and do better in an environment with ‘good’, sound-absorbing acoustics. As opposed to being in surroundings with sound-reflecting, or ‘bad’, acoustics. Healthcare acoustics Sound-reflecting vs. sound-absorbing acoustics Research comparing the impact of sound-reflecting and sound-absorbing acoustics on healthcare staff and […]
