Better spatial acoustics in acute clinical environments: overcoming the infection control challenges in material selection

摘要

Published research has established that noise creates adverse effects on patients and staff in acute clinical areas. While the extent of building insulation in the form of walls and doors is frequently not that critical to patient care, the operational noise produced by actual healthcare activities has much more acute effects on patient and staff wellbeing. Evidence exists to show the genuine benefit that acoustic absorbers can have on staff attitudes, patient care and actual medical outcomes. However the actual implementation of absorptive surfaces to reduce reverberation and operational noise is commonly assumed to be an infection risk due to porosity of the surfaces and absorption is subsequently omitted. Through surveys of infection specialists, designers and literature review, evidence suggests that concerns about infection spread via acoustic ceilings and well designed panels are not well founded for most clinical spaces. Cleaning and infection specialists expectations and procedures do not always align with architectural and acoustic design approaches. The result is missed opportunities to improve patient care without inheriting undue risk for spread of infection. Common ground exists between improved clinical outcomes, infection control needs (as set out in the Centre for Disease Control and Australasian Health Facility guidelines) and absorptive acoustic products. To reach this common ground, acoustic designers must be conscious of how the personal experience of key healthcare stakeholders can have significant influence on the assumptions and expectations. Acoustic designers need to actively seek guidance from key stakeholders to get an understanding of their specific goals to determine if absorbers can help achieve these goals. For facilities managers, designs that improve re-admission rates are critical. For cleaning and infection control managers, continuity of established cleaning processes and materials that can be wiped down are critical. Failure to convince these stakeholders of the proven benefits for better spatial acoustics will mean more missed opportunities to improve genuine healthcare outcomes.