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This paper aims to present a project in Australia, where participants use smartphones to measure the level of traffic noise in their homes. Through the data collected, participants learn if they are subjected to sleep disturbances and, if so, understand how they can manage the issue to protect their health. The project also has a secondary purpose: the local council would like to engage its community through the exercise and be seen as acting on the community’s problems.

The approach taken was the development of a mobile app call 2Loud? that turns the smartphones of participants into noise sensors with accuracies comparable to professional sound-meters. The data collected are analyzed by environment and acoustic experts, and personalized feedback, in the form of mitigation strategies, is then provided. The strategies are delivered through the app to allow participants to share within the community and hence, propagate the solution to non-participants.

Participants who are technologically literate find a sense of empowerment as a result. They confirmed the importance of “closing the loop” with the feedback they received after their voluntary data collection effort. They also reported some sense of satisfaction with the technology as an interim solution and noted the council’s creative approach.

This project first showcases how a participatory setup could be extended to create a “closed-loop” feedback system that further empowers its users. It is also a case example of how an organization could engage and manage its stakeholders’ expectations through innovative use of participatory sensing systems.

Hospital building maintenance management constitutes a pertinent issue of global concern for all healthcare stakeholders. In Malaysia, the maintenance management of hospital buildings is instrumental to the Government’s goal of providing efficient healthcare services to the Government's citizenry. However, there is a paucity of studies that have comprehensively explored all dimensions of hospital building defects in relation to maintenance management. Consequently, this study seeks to evaluate the defects of hospital buildings in Malaysia with the aim of proffering viable solutions for the rectification and prevention of the issue.

The study utilised a quantitative approach for data collection.

The findings indicated that cracked floors, floor tile failures, wall tiles failure, blocked water closets, and damaged windows were some of the flaws that degrade hospital buildings. The study’s outcomes reveal that defects not only deface the aesthetic appearance of hospital buildings but also inhibit the functionality of the buildings and depreciate the overall satisfaction.

Considering the indispensable role of hospital buildings in the grand scheme of healthcare service provision and ensuring the well-being of people, the issue of defects necessitates an urgent re-evaluation of the maintenance management practices of hospital buildings in Malaysia. Previous studies on the maintenance management of hospital buildings in Malaysia have focused primarily on design, safety, and construction.

This is particularly important because defects in hospital buildings across the country have recently led to incessant ceiling collapses, fire outbreaks, ceiling, roof collapses, and other structural failures. These problems are typically the result of poor maintenance management, exacerbated by poor design and construction. These disasters pose significant risks to the lives of hospital building users.

This study offers invaluable insights for maintenance organisations and maintenance department staff who are genuinely interested in improving hospital buildings’ maintenance management to optimise staff's performance and enhance the user satisfaction of hospital buildings in Malaysia and globally.