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 […]
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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 […]
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, […]
Healthcare paradox and 5 tips
Traffic noise makes us sick The Danish Cancer Foundation has concluded less than 2 years ago that traffic noise can lead to breast cancer and non-Hodgkins lymphoma. The Danish Ministry of Environment concluded at the same time that 500 Danes die every year because of traffic noise – because of diabetes, stress and cardio vascular […]
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. […]
Five ways noise impact the patient experience
Effects of noise 1) SLEEP DISRUPTION: For a good night’s sleep, continuous background noise should not exceed 30 dB, and individual noise events exceeding 45 dB should be avoided (1). Average nighttime noise levels in hospitals are over 60 dB (2). 2) FEELINGS OF HELPLESSNESS: Sounds from neighboring patients and from advanced medical treatments and […]
New digital Healthcare magazine
Over the past 40 years, average noise levels in hospitals have increased by a full 15 decibels (dB) reaching levels of around 70 decibels. Exceeding the World Health Organization’s recommended limit of 35 dB for a healing environment! Members of staff devote about 40 percent of their work time to communicating in one way or […]
Hospitals acoustics discussed at HOPE Congress
“Sound Environment affects the healthcare outcome” was the name of a session held at the HOPE Congress 2014 in Amsterdam. HOPE Congress The session, presented by Maria Quinn, a Concept Developer for Healthcare, Sweden, and Jikke Reinten (Concept Developer for Healthcare, Netherlands), explained how hospital noise can be reduced. Also how to work with acoustic […]
Care for Sound symposium movies online
The Care for Sound event was arranged by the Sound Environment Center at Lund University in collaboration with Ecophon. Sound environments in healthcare are serious and have an impact This became clear at the interdisciplinary symposium Care for Sound in Lund, Sweden. The symposium venue was filled with architects, functional planners, researchers, healthcare staff, and […]
Acoustics and hygiene at DAGA 2014
Hygiene focus at DAGA Acoustics in hygienically demanding areas: Porous absorbers and hygiene regulations. This was what Ingrid Fuchs, Concept Developer in Healthcare at Ecophon gave a presentation on at DAGA 2014 in Oldenburg, Germany. Healthcare facilities are subject to hygiene requirements and the cleanability of acoustic material is a matter to consider. Acoustically inadequate […]
