Etcher LuAnn
LuAnn Etcher, PhD, GNP-BC, is an Assistant Professor, Yale University School of Nursing, New Haven, Connecticut.
Home Healthc Nurse. 2014 Jul-Aug;32(7):415-9. doi: 10.1097/NHH.0000000000000111.
Informal caregiving is a prevalent phenomenon in the United States. A review of the literature reveals that, although much research has been done regarding the areas of informal caregiver burden and the effect of sleep disruption on healthy adults, little has been done in the area of caregiving and sleep disruption, especially as it relates to older informal caregivers. Older informal caregivers represent a significant portion of the informal caregiving population and are a population at risk for high levels of sleep disturbance. Further research designed to investigate sleep disruption in older informal caregivers is needed to move toward the development of evidence-based assessment tools for practice and interventions aimed at restoring normal sleep patterns in this vulnerable population.
非正式照护在美国是一种普遍现象。对文献的回顾表明，尽管在非正式照护者负担领域以及睡眠中断对健康成年人的影响方面已经开展了大量研究，但在照护与睡眠中断领域，尤其是与老年非正式照护者相关的方面，研究做得很少。老年非正式照护者占非正式照护人群的很大一部分，并且是睡眠干扰程度较高的风险人群。需要开展进一步的研究来调查老年非正式照护者的睡眠中断情况，以便开发基于证据的评估工具用于实践，并制定旨在恢复这一弱势群体正常睡眠模式的干预措施。
