Exploring positive hospital ward soundscape interventions

• Published in: Applied ergonomics Vol. 45; no. 6; pp. 1454 - 1460
• Main Authors: Mackrill, J., Jennings, P., Cain, R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.11.2014; Elsevier; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Acoustic Stimulation - psychology; Adult; Applied physiology; Auditory Perception; Biological and medical sciences; Emotions; Environment; Ergonomics; Ergonomics. Human factors; Ergonomics. Work place. Occupational physiology; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Health care; Health Facility Environment; Healthcare; Hospitals; Human physiology applied to population studies and life conditions. Human ecophysiology; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Noise; Occupational psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Relaxation. Biofeedback. Hypnosis. Selfregulation. Meditation; Soundscape; Surveys and Questionnaires; Treatments; Healthcare; Environment; Soundscape; Human; Affect affectivity; Cognition; Emotion emotionality; Sound; Relaxation; Treatment; Ergonomics; Ambient noise; Hospital ward
• ISSN: 0003-6870; 1872-9126
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apergo.2014.04.005

Sound is often considered as a negative aspect of an environment that needs mitigating, particularly in hospitals. It is worthwhile however, to consider how subjective responses to hospital sounds can be made more positive. The authors identified natural sound, steady state sound and written sound source information as having the potential to do this. Listening evaluations were conducted with 24 participants who rated their emotional (Relaxation) and cognitive (Interest and Understanding) response to a variety of hospital ward soundscape clips across these three interventions. A repeated measures ANOVA revealed that the ‘Relaxation’ response was significantly affected (n2 = 0.05, p = 0.001) by the interventions with natural sound producing a 10.1% more positive response. Most interestingly, written sound source information produced a 4.7% positive change in response. The authors conclude that exploring different ways to improve the sounds of a hospital offers subjective benefits that move beyond sound level reduction. This is an area for future work to focus upon in an effort to achieve more positively experienced hospital soundscapes and environments. •The subjective response to hospital ward sound was explored.•Laboratory evaluation explored ‘positive’ sound interventions.•Natural sound and written sound source information were most effective.•Future work can explore if this can contribute to positively experienced environments.