Background: Hospitalised older persons with dementia are commonly discharged with intensified sleep disturbances. These disturbances can impede the recovery process. Nurses are well-positioned to assist persons with dementia and their family caregivers in managing sleep disturbances during the transition from hospital to home.
Objectives: To describe the development of a multi-component intervention to promote sleep.
Methods: We applied three stages of the intervention mapping method to develop a non-pharmacological, multi-component sleep intervention. The first stage involved a review of the literature to generate an understanding of the determinants of sleep disturbances experienced by persons with dementia in hospital and home settings. The second stage consisted of a literature review to identify therapies for managing commonly reported determinants of sleep disturbances. The third stage entailed delineation of the intervention components.
Results: The most common determinants of sleep disturbances experienced by persons with dementia in hospital and home settings were: physiological changes associated with ageing, sleep environments non-conducive to sleep, limited exposure to light and engagement in physical activity, stress and sleep-related beliefs and behaviours. Therapies found effective included: light therapy, physical activity therapy, sleep hygiene, and stimulus control therapy. These therapies were integrated into a multi-component sleep intervention to be provided using the teach-back technique, during and following hospitalisation.
Discussion: Consistent with the principles of patient engagement, the multi-component sleep intervention will be evaluated for its acceptability and feasibility.
Implications for practice: The intervention has potentials to improve sleep during the transition from hospital to home.
Keywords: dementia; determinants; intervention mapping; older persons; sleep disturbances.
© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.