Sleep easy at The Gardens
Restless sleep is rarely a problem at Tasmanian aged care facility, The Gardens, after implementing a novel way of helping residents with dementia sleep. The initiative, led by education manager and nurse educator at Alzheimer’s Australia Tasmania, Linda Graham, involves night staff putting on a dressing gown and night slippers if a resident is finding it difficult to sleep.
Restless sleep is rarely a problem at Tasmanian aged care facility, The Gardens, after implementing a novel way of helping residents with dementia sleep.
The initiative, led by education manager and nurse educator at Alzheimer’s Australia Tasmania, Linda Graham, involves night staff putting on a dressing gown and night slippers if a resident is finding it difficult to sleep.
When the resident sees that the staff are also going to bed, they too are reportedly happier to do so themselves.
Ms Graham tells DPS News the tactful strategy is part of a “rehabilitative model of care”.
“When some people with dementia wake up at night and see people dressed in normal day clothes, the person living with dementia thinks it is time to get up,” she explains, adding the dementia patient sees life from a very “black and white” perspective.
“When the light is on, it’s day time and when it is off, it is night time. It’s as simple as that.”
Alzheimer’s Tasmania’s respite centre has also adopted the night-time strategy, which Ms Graham says is working “fantastically”.
“It has helped to relieve stress for residents living with dementia. If you have to talk to someone at 2am who is fully dressed in day clothes, it can interrupt the future sleep patterns for a person living with dementia, and that stress can continue throughout the day,” she says.
And the benefits of the clever strategy seems to be effective at The Gardens, with director of nursing Deanne Leggate saying it is “working a charm” for both residents and staff.
