Sleep in Caregivers & People with Dementia

People living with dementia often experience changes in their rhythms and routines, including sleep. We know that poor sleep is common among both people living with dementia and those who support them at home, and affects people's physical, social and mental health.

Existing treatments mostly target people separately, but sleep health is interwoven between people who provide and receive care. Also, one size does not fit all.

I undertook a postdoctoral fellowship at Monash University in which I led a trial to enhance sleep health among caregivers and people with dementia. To understand community needs, I collaborated with various community members and relevant organisations, running focus groups, interviews and meetings, and working closely with advisers having lived experience.

I led the development of a six-week sleep health program with mind, body and social components that we offered to small groups of caregivers and people with dementia across Australia and New Zealand.

I also developed treatment manuals for psychologists and a comprehensive handbook for participants.

This program aimed to be supportive, adaptable and educational, respecting the diversity of people's unique experiences.

Having secured four-year funding, this program will be adapted for digital delivery for greater reach within the community.

Dignity. Community. Collaboration.

Click to view images and research papers

Publications:

Verma, S., Varma, P., Brown, A., Bei, B., Gibson, R., Valenta, T., Pietsch, A., Cavuoto, M., Woodward, M., McCurry, S., & Jackson, M. L. (2023). Multi-modal sleep intervention for community-dwelling people living with dementia and primary caregiver dyads with sleep disturbance: protocol of a single-arm feasibility trial. PeerJ, 11, e16543.

Brown, A., Dowling J., Verma, S., Gibson, R., Valenta, T., Piestch, A., Cavuoto, M. G., McCurry, S. M., Bei, B., Woodward, M., Jackson, M. L., & Varma, P. (2024). Integrating Lived Experience to Develop a Tailored Sleep Intervention for People Living with Dementia and Carepartners. Dementia.

Presentation:

Verma, S., Varma, P., Brown, A., Bei, B., Gibson, R., Valenta, T., Pietsch, A., Cavuoto, M., Woodward, M., McCurry, S., & Jackson, M. L. (2022, Nov 9-11). The Dementia Wellbeing Study: A co-designed trial of a multimodal sleep intervention for people with dementia and their carers. In G. Vincent (Chair) Caring around the clock: Considering sleep and its disturbance within informal care settings [Symposium]. 33rd Annual conference of the Australasian Sleep Association (ASA) and the Australia and New Zealand Sleep Science Association (ANZSSA), Brisbane, Australia.