Assistant Professor Oregon State University Corvallis, Oregon
Approximately 20% of the US workforce engages in some form of shift work. Shift work is common in many essential occupational sectors (e.g., healthcare, transportation, food service). Shift work is associated with elevated risk for cardiovascular disease, stroke, multiple cancers, metabolic disorders, depression, driving accidents, medical errors, and all-cause mortality. Many shift workers experience poor sleep health, defined as the multidimensional pattern of sleep and wake which promotes optimal health and wellbeing. Poor sleep health in shift workers manifests during both sleep (e.g., insomnia symptoms, short sleep duration) and wake (e.g., fatigue, sleepiness, executive function, depression) and contributes to increased risk for disease, accidents, errors, and death among shift workers. There is no comprehensive sleep health intervention that fully addresses the range of sleep health problems experienced by shift workers (e.g., insomnia, short sleep duration, fatigue, sleepiness). However, there are efficacious sleep health interventions that target single domains independently. These interventions are typically examined in isolation in a controlled laboratory environment which limits generalizability to real world conditions. This presentation will describe the development of the Shift Worker Intervention for Sleep Health (SWISH) and two planned pilot randomized controlled trials both focused on shift-working nurses with poor sleep health. SWISH combines existing single component interventions into a comprehensive, integrated package that flexibly tailors to individual presentations. We will describe how SWISH uses a case conceptualization approach that maximizes flexibility and customizability. We will also discuss next steps in this nascent line of research.
