Senior living spaces present architects and designers with unique acoustical challenges and rewards. Good acoustics contribute greatly to a calming environment needed for better cognition and to lessen the frustration of memory loss. Staff are positively impacted, too, when they are working in a well-designed facility where noise control helps reduce the stress, anxiety, irritability and confusion sometimes associated with advanced aging.
According to The Center for Health Design, there is a definite correlation between safety and acoustics. These factors are shared with the industry in the Resident Safety Risk Assessment (SRA) a valuable tool that helps the design team create effective senior living projects. The existing body of research evidence shows:
- Noise causes poor sleep, which increases the risk of falls
- Noise and distraction for the nurses and/or residents can lead to medication errors
- Noise reduction reduces agitation and impacts behavioral Health.
According to Health Facilities Management magazine, interiors for senior living communities must also take into account other challenges of an aging population. Senior living residents have varying degrees of hearing loss which increases over time. In fact, 80 percent of all people over the age of 85 will experience noticeable hearing loss.
As we age, we lose hearing sensitivity in the mid- and high-frequency range. This is the frequency range that is critical for understanding consonants in speech.
Sound control in senior living facilities must be addressed with a nuanced understanding of hearing loss in an aging population. Snowsound is uniquely positioned to significantly enhance an environment’s acoustics by selectively absorbing the optimal amount of sound at different frequencies and reducing unwanted reverberation.
Also, Snowsound technology addresses environmental noise in dining rooms and other common areas that have a combination of hard surface flooring and carpet. And it can ensure comfortable acoustics within private apartments (assisted living), private rooms and semi-private rooms in long term care facilities. Snowsound’s award-winning panels combine advanced engineering, complex manufacturing, high quality materials and innovative shapes adaptable for multiple applications in a variety of spaces.
Snowsound products have received Greenguard Gold certification, indicating they have been screened for over 10,000 chemicals and do not emit high levels of pollutants. Greenguard Gold certified products are ideal for use by sensitive people in senior living and healthcare facilities. Greenguard certified products also contribute toward indoor air quality credits for LEED and the WELL Building Standard.
Sound awareness is an emerging trend positioned to revolutionize senior living. According to the Global Wellness Institute, sound wellness techniques for seniors and end of life transition uses sound, music and acoustic resonance therapy to help with pain management (emotional as well as physical), body/mind and spiritual harmonization and expanded consciousness in assisted living facilities and hospice.
Designers that stay ahead of the curve on advanced wellness techniques—and can provide advanced knowledge and technology to execute them—will be much in demand. They provide clients with additional value and enable them to achieve better outcomes for residents and staff.
Contact Snowsound for a free acoustic analysis. We can calculate how reverberant a room or space is and the optimum number of Snowsound Technology Panels, Snowsound Fiber Products or Snowsound Fiber Acoustic Textiles need to create spaces that sound as great as they look. Click here for more information.
