Quiet healthcare environments are a challenging issue and healthcare acoustics is an integral part to a patient’s healing process!
Hospital or healthcare environments are noisy, starting from the din of conversations to beepers, alarms, machines, and rolling carts, among other sources. These are severely irritating and at times harmful to patients, depending on their current conditions (i.e. age, hearing ability, medication intake, and pre-existing fears and anxieties). Acoustics in healthcare environments are complex and require a careful, strategic design. Specific acoustical considerations in these areas include supporting patient wellbeing and privacy; supporting communication among staff; and meeting standards and regulations.
Let’s look at the building design of any hospital. It requires a wide range of services and functional units. These include diagnostic and treatment functions, such as clinical laboratories, radiology, emergency rooms, and surgery, as well as hospitality functions, such as food service, housekeeping and the fundamental patient care or bed-related function. Hospitals are the most complex type of buildings… and then we still have the ACOUSTIC ISSUES!
For new or refurbished hospitals, Aluglass Bautech has a variety of acoustic and non-acoustic products (as seen below) that will assist any architect or developer.
Let’s see how our ACOUSTIC TREATMENT SOLUTIONS can help:
Absorption Panels reduce unwanted reflections and echoes and help with privacy, sound reverberation, general noise reduction and reducing overall wall maintenance cost. Available in screen fabrics or natural wood veneers with laser cut slots to suit the facilities décor and design.
Varikust® range of acoustic doors and acoustic fire doors can be used for any type of room door, emergency exit doors (available as gas / dustproof fire doors fitted with escape gear and up to Class D fire rated) and also for the X-Ray room doors, with lead lining.
Variflex® mobile acoustic partitions permit flexible room layouts and subdivides the training or conference facility, leaving only an overhead track when not in use. Two or more areas can be used simultaneously without disrupting each other or a large area can be created with the individual elements being parked neatly to one side or into a niche.
GF Serene acoustic glass partitions are the ideal demountable internal glass partitions system, to create quiet and private spaces within large hospital open plan areas. Quick and easy to install, remove and re-install with modular glass elements and flexible frame components. The system features glazed and unglazed acoustic doors from our Varikust® VK62 range to complement the acoustic performance.
Herewith our other product ranges for YOUR Healthcare Facility:
Sunflex frameless glass partitions offers diverse possibilities to create maximum spaces and to enhance their usefulness significantly. The systems are being used in many areas of a hospital, for example as Pharmacy or Coffee Shop entrances, glazed folding doors, room dividers and dividing walls.
Solux® sun control blinds are the ideal solution for various internal and external applications for a hospital. Custom made blinds can be fixed or retractable and the operational systems include manual, motorised or remote-control options. Advanced time regulation or sun sensor systems are available and blind operation can be integrated into the building management system using SMI (standard motor interface) motors and KNX control automation. The benefits for any hospitals and health care organisations include: decreased cooling costs, decreased glare on equipment display screens and computers, daylighting and patient wellness and comfort.
Solamark® awnings provides an extended sitting area for a coffee shop and for patients and staff to enjoy a bit of shaded fresh air, with protection from the harsh sun. We can install automated control units to extend and retract your adjustable Solamark® awnings depending on weather conditions.
Varifold® NON-ACOUSTIC wooden folding doors are useful as space savers in any doctor’s room or ward room application. These can be used as room dividers, serving hatches and as cupboard or bathroom doors. No floor track is required allowing for an uninterrupted floor finish. A wide range of natural wood veneers and Melawoods are available to suit the decor.
Showerflex® shower doors are needed in any bathroom, providing safe access for patients during their hospital stay. Being associated with SASEMA (South Africa Shower Enclosure Manufacturers Association), we conform to prescribed safety standards and manufacturing specifications.
In conclusion: Creating a comfortable acoustic environment in healthcare environments can play an important role in supporting safety, health, healing, and well-being for all occupants. Additionally, maintaining speech privacy in healthcare settings helps reduce medical errors as it supports open conversations among patients, families, doctors and nurses and is believed to influence patient satisfaction. If patients are not confident that they have complete privacy, they may hesitate to provide complete information about their medical conditions and/or concerns, potentially putting their health at greater risk.
With all the above solutions, Aluglass Bautech is here to help you complete your perfect healthcare facility.harsh