Health Care
The problem with medical offices
Ambient sound control within a room and the ability to contain sound from escape are key components of an effective counselling office. The intimate nature of many conversations, often at low volume, must compete with the base volume within the room caused by the HVAC system or nearby traffic. The problem intensifies as sound reflects off the hard walls, ceiling and floor surfaces introducing a dense echo or reverberant field. This smears the consonants, a critical component that delivers intelligibility to the listener. The typical T-Bar grid ceilings and light-weight ceiling tiles that are present in many office buildings are sonically porous, allowing private conversations to be heard outside the office or in adjacent rooms. This creates an environment where intelligibility and privacy is compromised.
There is nothing more uncomfortable than sitting in a dentist’s reception area while listening to the shrill rasping of a high-pitched drill emanating from the ‘torture chamber’ that awaits. Controlling unpleasant sounds is an important step towards making your practice a more enjoyable place to visit. But there’s more: with the Protection Of Personal Information (POPI) privacy rules recently coming into force, the medical profession is being urged to contain all conversations regarding a patient’s health within the confines of the consulting office. It is a now a breach of privacy that can leave the practitioner liable if that conversation spills into public waiting areas. This ruling does not just apply to doctors, but to the full spectrum of health disciplines such as dentists, chiropractors, optometrists, physiotherapists and so on. Sound proofing is often thought to be an expensive and difficult process. In most cases, it can be both easy and very affordable!
How can Mandi Acoustics help you?
When attempting to control sound, the two aspects we have to address are the noise or echo inside the room and then the sound energy that we are trying to prevent from either entering or escaping the room. First, excessive reverb or echo in a very excited room makes communication between the doctor and patient difficult to understand. This is caused by hard surfaces such as gypsum walls and tiled floors reflecting energy back into the room or along corridors. Treating the wall surfaces with 35% to 45% coverage by mounting Acoustic Panels to the surfaces provides quick remedy. These are made from high-density GeoWool. The second problem is the sound traveling up through the plenum, and reflecting into the office or public waiting area next door. GeoWool convert excessive energy inside the room into heat, while the mass of the our Acoustic Board blocks sound from either entering or escaping through the plenum. This delivers excellent attenuation within the room while effectively blocking all discussion from leaving the room. Your patients immediately benefit with enhanced communication, privacy and a more relaxed atmosphere.
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Our Sales Consultants are waiting to assist you. Get in touch with us for all your acoustic needs. Alternatively call us on 0785625428
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