University of Washington, School of Nursing, Department of Child, Family, and Population Health Nursing, Seattle, Washington, USA.
University of Houston, Department of Psychology, Houston, Texas, USA.
Sleep Health. 2022 Feb;8(1):23-27. doi: 10.1016/j.sleh.2021.10.002. Epub 2021 Dec 30.
Sleep health is a critical but under-recognized area of concern for the more than 650,000 children served by the US child welfare system each year. While sleep is vital to optimal child health and development, it is likely harmed by the multiple adversities and traumas experienced among children and youth residing in alternative care settings (ie, kinship care, nonrelative foster care, group homes). Children residing in alternative care settings have experienced, at a minimum, the trauma of removal from a biological parent's care and would benefit from holistic, comprehensive care approaches inclusive of sleep health. Furthermore, few studies are currently available to guide practitioners and policymakers in promoting sleep health among these children. In this Call to Action, our goal is to draw attention to the sleep health of children residing in alternative care settings. We highlight the need for a more robust evidence base to address major knowledge gaps and outline concrete steps toward building future promising sleep health-promoting practices and policies supporting children residing in alternative care settings.
睡眠健康是美国儿童福利系统每年服务的超过 65 万名儿童关注的一个重要但未被充分认识的领域。虽然睡眠对儿童的最佳健康和发育至关重要，但它可能会因生活在替代照料环境中的儿童和青年所经历的多种逆境和创伤而受到损害（即，亲属照料、非亲属寄养、集体家庭）。生活在替代照料环境中的儿童至少经历了被亲生父母照顾的创伤，他们将受益于包括睡眠健康在内的全面、综合的护理方法。此外，目前几乎没有研究可以为从业者和政策制定者提供指导，以促进这些儿童的睡眠健康。在这个行动呼吁中，我们的目标是引起人们对生活在替代照料环境中的儿童的睡眠健康的关注。我们强调需要更强大的证据基础来解决主要的知识差距，并概述建立未来有前途的促进睡眠健康的实践和支持生活在替代照料环境中的儿童的政策的具体步骤。
