Sleep in residential aged care: A review of the literature

Objective: Sleep is necessary for good health at all stages of life. This literature review aims to identify evidence based strategies to improve sleep in residential care, and offer recommendations for further research. Design: A literature search was conducted for articles published between April 2003 and May 2010 and 34 papers were reviewed. These were classified according to the National Health and Medical Research Council's (NHMRC) 2005 2007 pilot program of additional levels of evidence. Setting: Residential aged care. Primary argument: Strategies for improving sleep were described and evaluated in the 34 papers reviewed. These included pharmacological therapies, cognitive behavioural therapy, light therapy, various alternative therapies and multi factorial interventions. There are no clear guidelines for effective and safe sleep promotion interventions in residential aged care. Conclusions: Given the prevalence of sleep disorders amongst older people in residential care, there is a clear need for further research to enable guidelines to be developed.