From our geographically central location, Soundscape Engineering LLC's acoustical consultants and noise and vibration control engineers serve clients located throughout North America - in Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Ann Arbor, and Petoskey, Michigan; Milwaukee and Madison Wisconsin; Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, South Bend, and Northwest Indiana; Los Angeles, California; Vancouver, British Columbia; Dayton and Cincinnati Ohio, Winnipeg Manitoba; Saskatoon and Regina Saskatchewan; and elsewhere. Our engineers consult on issues of room acoustics, sound isolation, speech privacy, HVAC noise control, building vibration, and exterior noise impact. They also provide acoustic and vibration measurement services.

News & Editorials

Soundscape Engineering's latest news,tips, and trends in the acoustic engineering and consulting trade.

  • Home
    Home This is where you can find all the blog posts throughout the site.
  • Categories
    Categories Displays a list of categories from this blog.
  • Tags
    Tags Displays a list of tags that have been used in the blog.
  • Bloggers
    Bloggers Search for your favorite blogger from this site.
  • Login

Soundscape Assesses Acoustic Environments in Senior Living Facilities

Posted by on in Uncategorized
  • Font size: Larger Smaller
  • Subscribe to this entry
  • Print

On October 12, 2015, in Orlando, Florida, Mandy Kachur presented on healthcare acoustics as part of a panel at the co-sponsored Annual Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) Seminar and Annual Florida Healthcare Engineering Association (FHEA) Meeting.  Specifically, she described the senior living research project that Soundscape Engineering performed for the Facilities Guidelines Institute (FGI) and Rothschild Foundation and how the results will translate into proposed improvements to the 2018 edition of the FGI Guidelines for Design and Construction of Residential Health, Care, and Support Facilities.  Additionally, she described the acoustics sections of the FGI Safety Risk Assessment Toolkit for Healthcare Facility Environments and the contributions to the document from the Acoustics Working Group, for which she served as representative.  

 

The research project assessed the acoustical environment of both public and private spaces at a retirement community of 1800 residents.  The campus includes ten independent living buildings, one assisted living, one skilled nursing and three community buildings.  Site exterior noise, acoustical finishes, ventilation and building systems, speech privacy and intelligibility were all measured and assessed based on the Guidelines and resident opinion.  Soundscape discovered that the large public dining rooms created the most complaints as a result of a loud environment that makes it difficult for people with normal and impaired hearing to be part of a conversation at the same table.  Additionally, mechanical equipment and landscaping equipment generated complaints.  Soundscape also found a lack of speech privacy in the pharmacy and medical center waiting room could become a HIPAA issue.  Other updates that are recommended are Impact Insulation Class (IIC) inclusion, adherence to the International Building Code for acoustic separations and bare room sound absorption.  

 

Acoustics in the Safety Risk Assessment (SRA) is found in three of the six sections: Falls (noise causing poor sleep, which increases the risk of falls), Medication Errors (noise and distraction for the nurses), and Behavioral Health (noise reduction to reduce agitation).   Project and construction teams can use the SRA tool to assess the design and physical environment of the facility.  A risk assessment for new facilities and major renovations is required by the 2014 Guidelines.  

 

Photo: Kaiser Permanente