"Staff have commented on the increase in acoustic privacy and say that the sound helps them feel more relaxed. Patients have told us how welcoming the building feels." – SFCHC Clinical Team
The soundscaping design process began by defining the building’s audio zones. These are the different functional areas where the soundscaping would play. At SFCHC, this includes waiting areas, corridors and individual behavioural health rooms. These were chosen as important parts of the patient journey: The soundscape could welcome patients into the building, support them as they moved through the space, and create a sense of calm in treatment rooms. Importantly, it would also afford patients extra acoustic privacy for sensitive conversations.
Alongside loudspeakers, amplifiers and a soundscaping generator, noise sensors were also installed in each zone. These sensors are highly secure. They discard any actual audio and extract only metadata about things like the activity level or volume level in the space. (They’ve passed stringent security tests and been installed in hospitals, banks and other high-security environments.) It’s these sensors that will allow the soundscaping at SFCHC to evolve in real-time as these spaces change.
With help from Moodsonic, the centre’s management team chose generative soundscaping themes for each of these areas. Change management is an important part of managing any sensory intervention and so clear communication with clinical staff around purpose and options is beneficial.
SFCHC’s soundscaping system requires very little ongoing management. Staff can directly control the soundscaping themes to create different ambiences when appropriate, but otherwise the sound evolves moment to moment, day to day.
“Moodsonic’s soundscaping has made a marked difference to patient and staff experience”, says the centre’s clinical team. “Staff have commented on the increase in acoustic privacy and say that the sound helps them feel more relaxed. Patients have told us how welcoming the building feels.”
