Moodsonic today announced a new collaboration with the MSK Innovation Hub to research nature-based soundscaping for patient recovery in the oncology setting. The goals of the collaboration are to generate new insights into how soundscapes influence the patient experience, develop new practices and technologies, and ultimately improve both patient and hospital staff’s well-being through sound.
Healing spaces are often some of the most challenging when it comes to noise. Imagine trying to rest and recover to a soundtrack of beeping alarms, rattling carts and overheard conversations. While we can’t see noise, it significantly impacts many aspects of the patient and staff experience. Noise causes annoyance, discomfort and fatigue. It can even affect recovery times [1] and increase surgical and dispensing errors. [2,3]
Extensive research highlights the benefits of nature-based soundscapes. Natural sounds can counter the very problems caused by noise. They've been shown to help people relax, recover, focus and generally feel comfortable and well, while simultaneously increasing privacy.
“There’s a huge opportunity to use sound as a positive design tool in clinical settings,” said Jeff Larson, Director of Product at Moodsonic. “Sound in healthcare is a complex challenge. Patients’ conditions and individual sensory needs can vary massively. It’s a problem that requires unique expertise and adaptive, research driven solutions. We’re thrilled to collaborate with leading cancer care center MSK on this venture to create healthier environments for patients and staff.”
“There’s a huge opportunity to use sound as a positive design tool in clinical settings.”
The MSK Innovation Hub brings together clinicians, researchers, and health care technology developers to create solutions that advance the prevention and treatment of cancer and have a positive impact on patients' lives. This collaboration will be piloted at the Josie Robertson Surgical Center in New York City, initially in post-operative recovery rooms. Together, the teams will test soundscaping technology developed by Moodsonic to hone the beneficial impact for patients recovering from cancer surgery and create multi-sensory biophilic environments.
“We are excited to collaborate with Moodsonic to create more patient-centric auditory experiences for our healthcare environments,” said Daniel Stein, Senior Director, Chief Medical Informatics Officer, MSK. “By combining MSK’s world-class cancer care with Moodsonic’s audio expertise and unique soundscaping techniques, we aspire to create more novel audio experiences to help our patients feel and heal better.”
Moodsonic is a soundscaping company that works with many of the world’s largest organizations to create intelligent, responsive soundscapes that improve well-being in buildings like workplaces, healthcare environments and schools. Their soundscapes have been used to measurably improve outcomes like relaxation, mood, focus, creativity and perceptions of place.
“By combining MSK’s world-class cancer care with Moodsonic’s audio expertise and unique soundscaping techniques, we aspire to create more novel audio experiences to help our patients feel and heal better.”
_
1. Reid, M. (2022) 131 Sleeping It Off - Are Hospital Wards Too Noisy to Allow Patient Recovery?, British Journal of Surgery, 109, 6.
2. McLeod, R., Myint-Wilks, L., Davies, S. & Elhassan, H. The impact of noise in the operating theatre: a review of the evidence. The Annals of The Royal College of Surgeons of England, 103, 2.
3. Flynn, E. A., Barker K. N., Gibson J. T., Pearson R. E., Smith L. A. & Berger B.A., (1996) Relationships between ambient sounds and the accuracy of pharmacists' prescription-filling performance. Human Factors, 38, 4, 614-22
