Nursing home residents’ self-perceived resources for good sleep

Abstract

Objective. To explore the nursing home residents’ self-perceived resources for good sleep. Design. A qualitative research design. Episodic interviews were conducted, and analysis was done using thematic coding. Setting. Five German nursing homes from different providers. Subjects. Thirty nursing home residents who were at least 64 years old and oriented to place and person. Results. The nursing home residents’ self-perceived resources for good sleep can be classified into three general patterns: calmness, daily activity, and environmental factors. The residents see calmness as a psychological state and a prerequisite for good sleep. Rumination was reported as the main reason for disruption of calmness. Daily activity is also seen by residents to foster sleep, but most residents do not know how to be physically active. Environmental factors such as fresh air, silence, or the type of bed contribute individually to good sleep; however, nursing home residents usually lack strategies to foster these resources by themselves. Conclusion. The nursing home residents’ self-perceived resources for good sleep – calmness, daily activity, and environmental factors – can be starting points for non-pharmacological treatment of sleep disorders. The residents’ primary care physicians should explore these individual resources during consultation and attempt to foster them.

Key Words::

• Nursing homes
• physical activity
• psychological needs
• qualitative research
• resources
• sleep disorders

Conflict of interest and funding

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The first author received a stipend from the Robert Bosch Foundation. The study was associated with the research project INSOMNIA, which was financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).