Positive Vibrations: Strategies for Rethinking Sound to Benefit Healthcare Spaces

This article was originally published in Medical Construction & Design, March/April 2023, p. 36–37.

Sound is one of the most powerful and least considered elements of a healthcare environment. We design carefully for light, surfaces, and wayfinding, yet the acoustic experience of a space — what it does to the nervous system of every patient, visitor, and clinician in it — is too often left to chance. Rethinking sound is an opportunity to make healthcare spaces calmer, safer, and more humane.

Reference: Ning, S., Jorfi, M., Patel, S. R., Kim, D. Y., & Tanzi, R. E. (2022). Neurotechnological Approaches to the Diagnosis and Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 16, 854992. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2022.854992