Improving sleep in mental health and long-term care settings for older people: implementation research

People in the Netherlands are ageing. Older people are at increased risk of experiencing sleep disturbances. Good sleep is vital for physical, mental and emotional well-being. Certified nursing assistants, nurses and nursing specialists are the designated professionals for providing optimal sleep care. For this purpose, a guideline on good sleep and care for sleep disturbances was developed. However, in practice this guideline remains relatively unknown and is not sufficiently applied. 

Aim

This project sets out to map the current state of sleep care in mental health and long-term care settings and to identify factors impacting the implementation of the existing sleep guideline. Additionally, the participating health organisations will (de)implement interventions to apply the existing guideline more sufficiently. The insights gained on sleep care and the implementation of interventions will be compiled and disseminated in order to contribute to the well-being of clients as well as the work satisfaction among care workers.  

Approach

We will conduct participatory action research at four health organisations. Within each setting we will map the current state of sleep care after which the organisations will (de)implement at least one intervention of the ‘appropriate nursing care’-list. Next, the implementation process will be evaluated, and the state of sleep care will be reassessed to measure the effect of the interventions. 

Finally, the gained insights will be compiled and disseminated in, amongst other things, a toolkit for nurses, certified nursing assistants and nursing specialists. Additionally, the HAN University of Applied Sciences will use the results from this research to develop a national campaign for nursing students and professionals.