Author Identifier (ORCID)
Mark Jenkins: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4542-1768
Abstract
Background: Caregivers of people living with dementia frequently report poor sleep. This systematic review describes evidence from randomised controlled trials of non-pharmacological sleep interventions for dementia carers. Methods: A systematic search of major databases was undertaken. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane ROB 2.0 tool. Narrative synthesis followed Synthesis Without Meta-analysis (SWiM) guidelines due to substantial heterogeneity. Findings: Eighteen articles were included. Risk of Bias analyses revealed most studies had high overall risk of bias, primarily from selection of reported result bias. Interventions comprised of five categories: sleep-promoting, carer well-being, exercise, technology-based and complementary therapy. High variability between intervention type, duration, sample size and sleep measures impeding direct comparisons. Seven studies (39%) identified statistically significant improvements in caregivers sleep from exercise interventions, multi-component interventions and psychological support interventions. Conclusions: Exercise and psychological support interventions demonstrated the most promising effects, though larger, high-quality trials are needed for definitive evidence.
Keywords
Caregivers, dementia, non-pharmacological, sleep intervention, sleep promotion
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
1-1-2026
Publication Title
Journal of Applied Gerontology
Publisher
Sage
School
School of Nursing and Midwifery
Funders
This work was supported by an RM Gibson grant from the Australian Association of Gerontology, granted to AS.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Smyth, A., Lambert, K., Jenkins, M., Alem, A. Z., Worku, M. G., & Shanmugasundaram, S. (2026). Non-pharmacological sleep interventions for dementia caregivers: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Applied Gerontology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/07334648261446153