SLEEP HYGIENE IN PHYSICALLY DEPENDENT NURSING-HOME RESIDENTS - BEHAVIORAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL INTERVENTION IMPLICATIONS

The purpose of this report is to summarize data from a sample of 230 r esidents in eight nursing homes (NHs) that are relevant to the develop ment of environmental and behavioral interventions for sleep. Four con clusions can be drawn: (1) there is strong evidence that the nighttime sleep of these residents was adversely affected by environmental nois e and light; (2) residents appear to spend substantial time in bed and sleeping during the day; (3) there are significant differences betwee n some homes in the amount of time that residents spend in bed and sle eping during the day, as well as the frequency of nighttime awakenings associated with environmental events; and (4) residents' preference a nd nighttime noise source data suggest that a multifaceted interventio n to improve sleep hygiene could successfully implemented in the NH se tting. An intervention addressing these issues may result in improved sleep and overall well-being for a substantial portion of the NH popul ation.