“Play it again, Sam.” The most misquoted line in movie history speaks to how we connect music to particular moments in our lives. Whether it was the first date with our spouse, the song playing during our high school graduation or the hit album we were listening to on repeat when we started driving, our memories are immersed in sound. Sounds that can alert, transform and transport us.
At a recent Catalyst Think Tank event focused on reimagining healthcare experiences, Howard Rose, head of Health and Wellness at the award-winning immersive audio company Spatial, reminded the audience of the primal function that our sense of sound performs.“While we can shut our eyes off, there’s no way to close our ears,” he said.
In a hospital setting, the intrusive beeps and alarms registered by this always-on sense, along with the constant monitoring of screens, can take a toll on clinical team members. This effect was particularly amplified during the past few years, as the heroic efforts of healthcare workers facing an unprecedented pandemic have come into full focus.
This challenging time inspired our team to reimagine a space where frontline team members could recharge with the healing powers of sound without the need to look at extra screens. Sound is a high-impact way that we can transform healthcare environments to help make people’s lives better.
“The idea of bringing immersive sound into the wellness rooms and inviting team members who were in the midst of stress, in the midst of a battle, was one of the ways we believed we could make a difference,” said Dr. Hank Capps, executive vice president and chief information and digital officer at Wellstar.
There are now 16 Wellness Rooms across our hospitals and health parks, four of which feature Spatial’s immersive sound technology. Team members can relax and be immersed in any number of soundscapes ranging from a jungle to the bottom of the ocean. Each soundscape has a version that includes a low-frequency pulse to relax the nervous system. This auditory beat stimulation has a proven calming effect on the body. Like that hit album transporting you back to your first fun days behind the wheel, these beats calm your mind and body through the process of entraining your brain waves.
Howard Rose, Head of Health and Wellness at Spatial, discusses the use of immersive sound in healthcare.
Early results are clear: 95 percent of team members report a positive mental impact and plan to use the space again. Their self-reported mental state increased by over 30 percent after using the spaces. While Ingrid Bergman’s character in Casablanca never says the word “again,” 59 percent of our team members have indeed visited the Wellness Rooms more than once, and 84 percent would recommend the experience to a colleague.
Through this program, Wellstar is creating real-world evidence for how immersive sound can help healthcare teams and patients. We’re currently exploring the possibility of installing immersive sound in spaces where patients are also undergoing distress, such as emergency rooms, birthing areas, neonatal intensive care units, chemotherapy bays and more.
Have you ever experienced sound therapy? Where would you like to see immersive sound experiences in healthcare environments? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
