Introduction Speech in the ICU affected Intensive care units (ICU) can be noisy and disruptive environments from both a patient recovery and workplace perspective, affecting speech intelligibility. Noise and poor ward acoustics have been linked to sleep disturbance and protracted recovery times in patients, as well as increasing workplace stress, fatigue and occupational burnout in […]
STI
Acoustic refurbishment of a Dementia Assessment Clinic
Increased need for Dementia Clinics Demographic changes across the globe lead to higher life expectancy in general and we are facing a future where people live longer than before. We have more and more patients of higher age in our healthcare facilities, as well as Dementia Clinic, today than we used to and we need […]
Case study: Psychological and pedagogical counselling centre no. 19 in Warsaw
Psychological and pedagogical counselling centre no. 19 (PPP19) is a place that assists children and their parents living in the district Ursynów in Warsaw, including children from nearby schools and kindergartens. The centre helps in reaching the right diagnosis about e.g. language, memory and intellectual abilities and supports children’s mental development. The number of patients […]
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 […]
New study: C50 should be included in standards for elderly care facilities.
What are good acoustic conditions in elderly care? Recently, a new study in an elderly care home in Denmark was finalized. The motivation for this study conducted by the two Architectural Engineers Cecilie Søgaard Petersen and Stine Sonne Nautrup was that we see demographic changes all over the world and this also means that the […]
Better sound environments for doctors and nurses in the Czech Republic
One of our editors in the Czech Republic (CZ), Iveta Kralova, was recently part of an intervention study to create better sound in an eye clinic in Hradec Kralove. Here follows her experience in a country where acoustic standards for healthcare are lacking and where a lot of buildings are too loud to heal. Many […]
Acoustics affect staff in the OR
Introduction Sustainable working environments include good room acoustics but working in and operation room (OR) can be a challenge. Due to hygiene regulations and demands the surfaces are often hard and reflective and this leads to high sound pressure levels, bad speech clarity and long reverberation times. The Study At Hvidovre Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark […]
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 […]
