Sleep Well | Bishop Grosseteste University

Aims and objectives of the project

The multi-phased Sleep Well project aimed to identify the extent to which sleep hygiene is understood in student populations, to use that information to help design a workable sleep hygiene intervention to help improve sleep, to deliver the intervention and to test its efficacy, with self-reported sleep quality and quantity outcomes, as well as indicators of “wellness” including anxiety, wellbeing and mood.

Outputs (publications and knowledge exchange)

Data have been used in knowledge exchange fora thus far, including commissioned webinars as part of National Work Life Week and National Wellbeing Week. An episode, “Can I improve my sleep?” (https://shows.acast.com/sleep-science-pod/episodes/ep5-can-i-improve-my-sleep) of The Sleep Science Pod was dedicated to discussing the key findings from the intervention project, namely how the Sleep Well intervention significantly improved sleep quality and wellbeing within two weeks, in a sample of 89 participants.

Findings have also indicated the need to better understand how individuals can “switch off” in order to sleep better. This has led to the development of a follow-on project, which aims to delineate and quantify the constructs of emotional and cognitive intrusions, as independent facets of attention, which limit sleep onset.

A number of outputs are in preparation, including:

Horton, C.L. Sleep Well: A simple three-step personalised sleep hygiene plan improves sleep quality and wellbeing in two weeks. Sleep Health.

Horton, C.L. Students’ understanding of sleep hygiene as a catalyst to develop a personalised sleep hygiene intervention. Journal of Health Psychology.

Horton, C.L. Switch Off (Commissioned text book, manuscript to be submitted by December 2021).