Exploring the soundscape quality of five nursing homes in Flanders (Belgium): Preliminary results from the AcustiCare project

Soundscape is the psychological construct resulting from the perception of an acoustic environment in context. While the concept has mostly been referred to 'urban' situations, it does apply to indoor contexts, and particularly to facilities like nursing homes, where specific caring functions are taking place. Recently there has been an increasing interest on the acoustic environment of care facilities and its potential to affect the experience of residents with dementia. There is evidence that poor soundscape quality affects negatively the quality of life of people with dementia and increases agitation. The AcustiCare project aims at using the soundscape approach to enhance the Quality of Life (QoL) of residents and to reduce Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD), as well as improving the everyday experience of nursing homes for both residents and staff members. In order to characterise the perception of the current acoustic environments, five living rooms in different nursing homes in Flanders were observed during a twelve-hour slot (07:00-19:00h) in a typical week day. Soundscape data were gathered every 30 minutes through a protocol adapted from soundscape literature. Preliminary results show that soundscape quality varied significantly between nursing homes (p < .001 for overall soundscape quality and appropriateness), but not over time during the observation periods (p=.817 and p=.935 for overall soundscape quality and appropriateness). This suggests that much depends on the nursing home but also that there is room for improvement for the soundscape daily pattern and time-varying soundscape strategies might be put in place to manage the acoustic environments of the nursing homes in order to improve the overall residents' experience.