The soundscape approach for people with dementia; using psychoacoustic parameters to select suitable sounds

Abstract

Sound augmentation as an environmental intervention to improve mood and cognitive behaviour illustrated promising results in recent years. The same approach has a positive effect in reducing anxiety, stress, agitation and improving sleep quality in people with cognitive disabilities. In the soundscape approach, people have agency in evaluating their sonic environment, either a neighbourhood, a hospital or a care unit. This method is hardly possible when designing for people with dementia, as the severity of the disease makes communication incomprehensible in most cases. Therefore, caregivers and nurses are the best sources of evaluation; their familiarity with patients and their knowledge of patients' behaviour and psychology is crucial to evaluate the soundscape and the environment. This research uses caregivers' evaluation of a designed soundscape and shows the possible scientific way of selecting a suitable sound by assessing the character of the sound and its psychoacoustic parameter in relation to the caregivers' and nurses' feedback. Using feedback data and psychoacoustic parameters of sounds, a logistic regression model with a single independent variable demonstrated the chance of a positive outcome (sound) versus continuous indicator value (psychoacoustic parameter). The preliminary result revealed a possibility of sound augmentation using psychoacoustic parameters to identify suitable sounds.