Brief Behavioural Treatment for Insomnia in Dementia Carers

Background: between 50-74% of dementia carers report some sleep disturbance. However, relatively few studies have looked at psychological treatment for insomnia in this group. Dementia carers may be particularly at risk for suffering negative consequences from the impact of sleep loss on top of the stress of their carer role. Researchers have found that Brief Behavioural Treatment for Insomnia (BBTI) can be effective for improving symptoms of insomnia in older adults. BBTI focusses on sleep-related behaviour such as napping and when a person gets up and goes to bed. Aims: this study aims to explore whether delivering group-based, Brief Behavioural Treatment for Insomnia (BBTI) to family carers of people with dementia is feasible, given that, to date, this has not yet been explored. Who is eligible?: carers with insomnia who care for a family member with dementia and live with them at home are eligible for inclusion in this study. What is involved for participants?: taking part will involve an initial telephone discussion with a researcher to check suitability. Participants will then meet the researcher for assessment. Assessment includes a sleep interview and completing some questionnaires. Participants will then be required to attend 3 group sessions of BBTI across the space of 4 weeks. After attending the BBTI group, participants will be asked to fill in some of the same questionnaires that they filled in during assessment and again 4 weeks later. Participants will also be invited to take part in a focus group to give feedback about the treatment and their overall experience of being in the study.