Positive listening experiences for intensive care patients: A listener-centric, need-based approach to ICU soundscape design

In this dissertation it was investigated how the acoustic environment perceived by patients, or soundscapes, in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) could be optimized to support more human-centered ICU stays. The dissertation had two objectives: first, to explore how human-centered design could contribute to positive listener experiences for ICU patients with a needbased, listener centric soundscape approach; and second, to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach, i.e., to what extent designed soundscape interventions could benefit patients in terms of soundscape perception, emotional states, and stress. To achieve these objectives, a combination of listener-centric, evidence-based practices was employed rooted in human-centered design and sound-driven design. The five studies in the dissertation featured a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methodologies, including interviews, questionnaires, and physiological measurements. The project was a collaborative effort between the faculty of Industrial Design Engineering of TU Delft, the Critical Alarms Lab, the Adult ICU department at Erasmus Medical Center, and Philips.....