Sleep Health - Increasing the Proportion of Adults Who Get Sufficient Sleep - Research Paper Example

Sleep Health: Increasing the proportion of adults who get sufficient sleep Grade (October 1st, Increasing the proportion of adults who get sufficient sleep Introduction Sleep is an essential aspect of human health. The importance of sleep on the body can be compared to that of exercising, considering that there are natural limitations to the human wellbeing that are associated with sleep deprivation. The most obvious negative implications of insufficient sleep on the body include low productivity, fatigue and stress (Healthy people.gov, 2014). However, it is not just sleep, but routine and planned sleep that delivers the health benefits to the individuals who practice it. On the other hand, lack of enough and routinely planned sleep is associated with various health deficiencies, which include loss of memory, distorted learning abilities and mood problems (Bonnet, 2011). Additionally, without enough sleep, it is naturally difficult for an individual to concentrate or focus. According to a research published in the Southern Medical Journal, sleep deprivation is one of the causes of the cardiovascular diseases, because sleep is essential for giving the heart and the vascular system the much needed rest (Brannon, Feist, & Updegraff, 2013). Sufficient sleep is especially important for adults, considering that they form the bulk of the productive workforce, thus requires being healthy and free of such sleep disorders that may hamper their productivity and effective duty performance. Therefore, increasing the percentage of adults who are able to get sufficient sleep on a daily basis is an important aspect of improving the general health and welfare of the society. Thus, the objective of this discussion is to seek ‘increasing the proportion of adults who get sufficient sleep’. The discussion will focus on female college students as the target community population. The proposed health promotion and disease prevention program is the combination of a wellness support program with prophylactic naps. Literature review According to the data from the National Institute of Health (NHI) that has been published in the Journal of Sleep medicine, 29% of the adult American population sleeps for less than 7 hours in a day (Schoenberg& Adams, 2009). Additionally, a study by the institute of medicine has indicated that between 50 and 70 million adults within the USA are suffering from diverse sleep and wakefulness disorders (Institute of medicine, 2006). Another data from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has indicated that 10.1% of the whole adult population in the USA has reported having insufficient sleep annually (CDC, 2008). The study by the CDC indicated that among the 403,981 respondents that were interviewed from 50 states in the United States, 30.7% reported having insufficient sleep for the preceding 30 days. The data further indicated that the female adults were highly likely to experience insufficient sleep compared to their adult male counterparts, considering the fact that the data reported 12.4% of the adult women had experienced insufficient sleep in the preceding 30 days, compared to 9.9% of the adult males (CDC, 2008). Further extrapolation of the data was done by the CDC study in order to get a clear picture of the actual number of days that the respondents experienced insufficient sleep. The data extrapolation indicated that the bulk number of American adults among the 403,981 respondents spend between 1 and 13 days of insufficient sleep at 41.3%, followed by the 16.8% of the respondents who spent between 14 and 29 days of insufficient sleep, while 11.1 reported having experienced insufficient sleep for the whole 30 days preceding the study (CDC, 2008). Another study undertaken by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), to evaluate the characteristics of the population that was highly affected by insufficient sleep within 50 states of the United States indicated that insufficient sleep days increased as the age of the individuals increased (CDC, 2003). In this respect, the study found that adults above the age of 55 years were more likely to spend more days of insufficient sleep at 47.5%, compared to adults with a relatively lower age of between 18 and 30 years, who experienced fewer days of insufficient sleep, at 21.9% (CDC, 2003). Another characteristics that emerged as a major factor that influences the sleep pattern for adults in the USA is work and employment. According to the National Sleep Disorders Research undertaken in 2003, the research findings indicated that retired persons were likely to have a significantly high level of sufficient sleep compared to the working adult population, where the retired persons who reported having experienced sufficient sleep within the preceding 30 days accounted for 53.5% of the retired population, while the working population had a lower level of sufficient sleep experience at 24% (USDHHS, 2003). Further, the unemployed population that reported experiencing sufficient sleep within the previous 30 days prior to the National Sleep Disorders Research were higher than the percentage of the working population, with 32.9% of the unemployed reporting to have experienced sufficient sleep, compared to only 24% of the working population. Finally, the findings of the National Sleep Disorders Research undertaken in 2003 indicated a direct relationship between education and levels of sleep experienced by the American adult population. According to the findings of this research, as the education level of the American adult population increased, the levels of insufficient sleep experienced also increased (Healthy people.gov, 2014). Under the research findings, the percentage of the American adult population with less than a High School Diploma or General Educational Development certificate (GED) that reported having experienced sufficient sleep within the past 30 days of the research stood at 39.2% (USDHHS, 2003). This population declined with the increased level of education qualifications. 33.4% of the individuals with a High School Diploma or a GED certificate qualification reported having experienced sufficient sleep. On the other hand, only 26.3 of the population with higher education qualifications such as college Diploma and college degrees reported having experienced sufficient sleep, within the past 30 days prior to the research (USDHHS, 2003). Description of the Community Adult female college students’ form a prime target population for insufficient sleep, considering the fact that such students require to work for several hours and also attend to classes according to the stipulated schedules. According to the National Sleep Disorders Research, the increased level of education reduces the chances of sufficient sleep for the American population, with 39.2% of the American adult population with a High School diploma or GED certificate qualifications and below experiencing sufficient sleep compared to 26.3% of the population with higher education level qualifications such as college diploma and college degrees (USDHHS, 2003). A research undertaken by the Center for Disease Control reported that a higher percentage of the female population experience insufficient sleep in America compared to the adult male population, at 12.4% and 9.9% respectively (CDC, 2008). The overall effect of these studies is to indicate that adult female college students are highly vulnerable to insufficient sleep, considering the fact that they fall in the category of the working population as well as that of the high education qualifications population, both of which are demonstrated to experience high levels of insufficient sleep. This makes this community target population the most ideal candidates to this program, which seeks to increase sufficient sleep for the adult population. Proposed assessment of need Focus group will be applied as the need assessment method for the adult female college students target community. A focus group comprising of 50 adult female students will be constituted through random selection of participants from a local university. The participants will then be engaged in a forum through which they can openly interact both amongst themselves and with the researcher. The number of hours of sleep for each of the focus group member will be recorded, while the reasons accounting for either less or more sleeping time will be recorded. The final list of needs of the students will finally be compiled for effective program formulation. Proposed Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Program: Combined wellness support program with prophylactic naps The combination of a wellness program with prophylactic naps for the adult female college students is one of the major ways through which increasing the proportion of sufficient sleep can be achieved. The prophylactic naps play the role of reducing the sleep deficits that the female students may have experienced owing to their tight schedules that entails work and class attendance that reduce the time available for them to sleep (Bonnet, 2011). The prophylactic naps can be taken in intervals ranging from minutes to a few hours, depending on the time available for the female students in the course of their class attendance and working hours. Taking several healthy naps during the intervals of transition from work to class or from one class to the other will enable the adult female students to reduce their sleep deficits, and thus make them more focused, attentive and productive (Bonnet, 2011). On the other hand, the involvement of the adult female college students in wellness programs will go a long way in assisting the students to overcome the stress and the effects of the stressful events they might have encountered during the working and class hours, which might disrupt their peace of mind and cause them sleepless moments (Barnes, 2013).The wellness program should entail exercising as well as social support, which will in turn help to keep the adult female students stress-free, and thus enable them to have adequate and uninterrupted sleep once they go to bed (Barnes, 2013). Summary Sleep is one of the essential elements of a healthy livelihood. It influences the productivity, moods as well as the stress levels of individuals. Insufficient sleep is a problem that is currently facing the adult population, with the female gender being highly affected by the problem. While insufficient sleep may disrupt focus and concentration of individuals both in learning and at work, it may have more serious health consequences such as cardiovascular complications. A combination of prophylactic naps and wellness programs can therefore be applied towards helping reduce the incidences of insufficient sleep for adult female college students, while increasing their proportions of sufficient sleep. References Banks S. & Dinges D.F. (2007). Behavioral and physiological consequences of sleep restriction. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine 3,519--28. Barnes, C. M. (2013). Lack of Sleep and Stress -- a Vicious Cycle You Can Escape. University of Washington; Foster School of Business. Bonnet M.H. (2011). The effect of varying prophylactic naps on performance, alertness and mood throughout a 52-hour continuous operation. Sleep Journal 14(4):307-315. CDC. (2008). Perceived insufficient rest or sleep---four states, 2006. MMWR Weekly, 57:200--3. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5708a2.htm CDC (2003). Public health surveillance for behavioral risk factors in a changing environment: recommendations from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Team. MMWR Weekly; 52(No. RR-9). Available athttp://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5209a1.htm Brannon, L., Feist, J., & Updegraff, J. (2013). Health Psychology: An Introduction to Behavior and Health. Boston: Cengage Learning. Healthy people.gov (2014). Sleep health. Retrieved from http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/overview.aspx?topicId=38 Institute of Medicine. (2006). Sleep disorders and sleep deprivation: an unmet public health problem. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Schoenberg C.A. & Adams P.F. (2009). Sleep duration as a correlate of smoking, alcohol use, leisure-time physical inactivity, and obesity among adults: United States, 2004--2006. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/sleep04-06/sleep04-06.pdf US Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS). (2003). National Center on Sleep Disorders Research. 2003 National Sleep Disorders Research Plan. Available at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/prof/sleep/res_plan/sleep-rplan.pdf. Read More