A “must-hear” presentation on satisfying sound environments for all legislators, architects, acoustics engineers, builders and hospital staff. This is how we would describe the presentation entitled “A holistic assessment of sound environment in hospitals” by Hannah C. W. Jakobsen (Ramboll Denmark) during the Ecophon International Acoustics Seminar 2023. Satisfying sound environments The presentation summarized a […]
ICU
The sound of absorption – an experience!
How would you explain the experience of good sound absorption in a room? To truly understand the value of better acoustics you need to experience it firsthand. This is why we have built two identical rooms with different absorption in our showroom Ecorama at the Ecophon headquarters in Hyllinge, Sweden. Here you can experience the […]
Sound environment in the Intensive Care Unit
Noise levels – how it is experienced by staff We have building regulations for room acoustics in hospitals in Intensive Care Units (ICU). But are they enough to create a good environment for both staff and patients? Recently a new study from Copenhagen hospitals was finalized so let’s take a look at some of the […]
Hospital facilities often fall by the wayside
In many older hospital facilities, noise is disruptive and continuous; for this reason, particular attention was paid to the acoustics in the new intensive and intermediate care unit in Seinäjoki, Finland. According to a nationwide study, on average 55% of those working in healthcare would like to see improvements to the sound environment of working […]
New research: Sleep in the ICU
Acoustic interruptions A recent study published in Critical Care Explorations revealed a potential relationship between acoustic interruptions and worsened perceived sleep quality. One of the results was that patients were exposed to 4,861 acoustic interruptions in total during the night! The conception that critically ill patients are too ill to reflect on their sound environment […]
Noise in the ICU
Noise pollution In recent years, several acoustic studies have noted that the sound environment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is noisy and demanding. The noises are unpredictable and unexpected as they have numerous sources. The extent of the problem is not yet fully understood, but the impact of noise pollution in patient rooms in […]
Short reverberation time in critical care is not enough
Short reverberation time does not do the whole trick in healthcare facilities, it´s the peaks that will wake the patients up! Out of our comfort zone When we are sick and feel bad – we seem to forget that just opening the door to a hospital makes us out of our comfort zone. Our system […]
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 […]
Evidence-based design in an Intensive Care unit
Evidence-based design in Finland The EVICURES project at Seinäjoki Central Hospital (Finland) was the first project to study evidence-based design (EDB) activities in Finland. The target of the project was to develop a new user-friendly design model for intensive care units (ICU) and to design a new ICU according to this model. A final report […]
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 […]
