Behavioral Sleep Intervention in Adult Family Homes

This study addresses the clinical problem of sleep and nighttime behavioral disturbances in older adults with dementia living in board and care homes. Board and care facilities provide room and board, 24-hour supervision, and assistance with personal care tasks for two or more residents not related to the owner or operator. Many elderly persons who need residential care choose board and care facilities over the alternatives because of their small size and homelike environment.

Adult family homes (AFHs) are small board and care homes with 2-6 residents. Sleep and nighttime behavioral disturbances such as wandering, getting out of bed repeatedly, and day/night confusion are widespread among demented residents of AFHs, and are a leading cause for transfer into nursing homes. However, little is known about how best to treat these problems. Adult family homes vary widely in their type of ownership, staffing schedules, physical environment, resident eligibility criteria, physician access, level of family involvement, and ratio of private/public pay clients. There have been no sleep intervention studies conducted in AFHs, and strategies that have been shown to improve sleep in community-dwelling or nursing home patients may not be feasible or effective in AFH settings. Residents of AFHs have higher rates of functional and health problems that can contribute to sleep disturbances than do community-dwelling patients, and paid caregivers have demanding on-the-job responsibilities and schedules not typically faced by family caregivers. In contrast to skilled nursing facilities, AFH employees often live 24-hours on-site, have limited training in dementia care, and have no licensed health care professionals supervising day-to-day activities. Identification of strategies that could be used as part of a staff educational program to manage sleep and nighttime behavioral disturbances in this unique environment is sorely needed. If successful, such strategies would help residents remain in a less restrictive environment for a longer time, and enhance resident quality of life.

The goal of the project is test the efficacy of a 4-session behavioral intervention for improving sleep and reducing nighttime behavioral disturbances in dementia residents of adult family homes compared to AFH residents in a usual care control condition. This project builds upon previous research conducted by the Principal Investigator showing that brief behavioral interventions can improve sleep of persons with Alzheimer's disease who are living in the community with family caregivers. It applies rigorous methodology to determine whether these interventions are equally feasible and effective in adult family home settings, and whether they delay transition into higher levels of institutional care.

Inclusion criteria

• Probable or possible AD diagnosis
• Two or more sleep problems on the Sleep Disorders inventory
• Sleep problems occurring three or more times per week
• Living in an Adult Family Home with owner/operator and staff willing to participate

Exclusion criteria

• Previously diagnosed primary sleep disorder, e.g. sleep apnea or restless legs syndrome