July/August/September 2020 I 55
Mass Communication
and Sound Masking
in the Noise
Polluted Healthcare
Environment
By Denise Pappas
Walk into any hospital and it is abuzz
with all types of activity, whether in the
Emergency Department, the Labor
and Delivery maternity ward or even
the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The
aesthetics of hospitals and healthcare
environments are universally the same
because these areas use nonporous
surfaces that need to be clean and
sterile to prevent the spread of germs
and disease-causing pathogens. There-
fore, this environment leads to one
of the most challenging issues
in designing sound systems due to the
reverberant nature of necessary build-
ing materials. Without carpet
and other furniture to absorb sound,
the healthcare environment can
become quite loud—too loud!
