Solutions
Sound Garden at Vall d'Hebron hospital
Waiting rooms in public tertiary centers can lead to prolonged patient stays, particularly in emergency waiting rooms before discharge, where some patient profiles experience certain levels of anxiety.
The use of sound in patient waiting areas as a mood modulator aims to reduce their "negative valence" and analyze their State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI).
To understand patients' perceptions of exposure (or lack thereof) to music/sounds (Sound Garden) in the emergency waiting room and the External Radiology Clinic at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital.
Participants
- University Hospital Vall d’Hebron: Citizen Care Unit
- La Huella Sound Agency: Creative Studios
- Ecler Pro Audio SL: Design and manufacture of audiovisual solutions
Publication date
2024-07-30
Method
From June 2021, access to music was facilitated in an emergency unit of the general hospital, and from December 2021, in a radiology unit of traumatology. From the start of the exposure period until May 2022, a main survey was administered to a group exposed to music and a group without music in the units. Both groups were asked about their age, sex, and state anxiety level using the STAI scale.
The exposed population was also asked about waiting time, profession, experience score, comfort effect, perceived sound effects level, and a final qualitative assessment of the perceived sound effects. Later, a second survey without exposure was administered in mid-2022 to the same units to score the predisposition to listen to nature sounds.
Elements of the Vall d’Hebron Sound Garden
Soundscapes: Natural sounds with added musical harmonic impulses. These notes and chords, lacking rhythm or melody, do not absorb the listener's attention in searching for musical patterns, thus keeping anxiety levels low.
Organic: Music with instruments made from natural elements.
La Huella Sound Agency
A company specialized in audiomarketing that believes in the social value of music through the creation, management, and use of content.
Technical Solution
Key Features of the Ecler Audio System
Remote-controlled sound player
Pre-amplifier
Ceiling speakers
Pre-programmed volume by time slots
Remote update of sound content and volumes if necessary
System integrated into the hospital's IT network
Local volume control
Does not interfere with the sound alert system of the rooms
High-quality two-way speakers
Conclusion
Overall, the experience is positively received by both sexes when exposed to music, despite no statistically significant differences, suggesting that its use could be maintained or even expanded. Nature sounds receive the most support in the main survey. Non-statistical differences were observed when comparing anxiety levels and predisposition in young females, suggesting that exclusive units such as mammary pathology or gynecology may be ideal for incorporating the system.
The option of hearing sounds is positively valued among respondents without music exposure, aligning with the experience's opinion and inviting the extension of the experience to other similar spaces in emergency rooms and external consultations.
The study results have been presented at various medical conferences by the Vall d’Hebron team.