In-Home Assistive Technology May Help Protect Dementia Caregivers from Declining Sleep Efficiency: A Randomized Control Trial.

OBJECTIVES

Caregivers for people with dementia (PWDs) often experience sleep problems due to stressors associated with their role (e.g. concern about PWDs' nighttime wandering). We investigated whether a technology system, People Power Caregiver (PPCg), that helps monitor the caregiver's home would benefit caregivers' sleep.

METHODS

Primary caregivers of PWDs (Study 1:  = 70, Age  = 64.54, SD = 11.82, range = 35-84; Study 2:  = 92, Age  = 62.73, SD = 11.10, range = 32-89) were assigned to a fully activated PPCg condition or control condition (Study 1: partially active PPCg; Study 2: waitlist control). Caregivers completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index at baseline, three-months, and six-months.

RESULTS

Caregivers in the control conditions reported significantly worsening sleep efficiency whereas in comparison, those in the active conditions reported improving sleep efficiency.

CONCLUSIONS

Given how critical sleep is both for caregivers' health and the care they provide, these findings underscore potential benefits of in-home technologies for protecting caregivers' sleep.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

Technology-based interventions that help monitor the home may support caregivers' sleep. Protecting caregivers' sleep may also preserve their ability to provide high-quality care as their loved one's disease and associated functional decline progresses.