Introduction
One of the vulnerable population categories with respect to healthy habits and behaviors is low-income youth. Young adults from 18 to 25 continue their studies at colleges and universities or have to work part-time or full-time to earn their living and pay for studies. However, they frequently lack time-management skills. As a result, they experience sleep deficiency that can cause serious health problems. Thus, there is a necessity for the intervention that will increase public knowledge of the harmful impact of sleep disorders and related health outcomes. The suggested innovative nursing care delivery model is called Healthy Sleep for Low-Income Youth Model. The nursing care specialty related to Healthy Sleep for Low-Income Youth Model is community health nursing. The model implementation is planned in Colorado County, Texas.
Description of the Healthy Sleep for Low-Income Youth Model
The issue of sleep health is not new. It is included in the list of topics of the initiative Healthy People 2020 (“Sleep health,” 2017). About a quarter of the American population report poor sleep health and having not enough sleep during at least 50% of days (“Sleep health,” 2017). The studies of sleep (Buysse, 2014); Hirshkowitz et al., 2015; Laposky, Van Cauter, & Diez-Roux, 2016; Olson et al., 2015) prove the significance of sleep health and the negative impact of sleep disorders on the health of the population. Consequently, a nurse-managed innovative care delivery model aimed at the reduction of health disparities related to sleep problems and other connected problems is a demand of time.
The suggested innovative nursing care delivery model Healthy Sleep for Low-Income Youth is aimed at young people who start an independent life with education or career and cannot manage their activities properly to get enough sleep. The model interventions will provide this vulnerable audience with appropriate guidelines and assistance to minimize the health risks because of sleep deficiency. Thus, the goal of the model is to organize patient education aimed at the detection and elimination of sleep health problems to improve general health conditions and increase their work and learning performance. A sub-goal is to prevent the development of sleep-related diseases, such as metabolic syndrome, hypertension, coronary heart disease, depression, etc.
The model is expected to be cost-efficient because it does not demand big professional staff or expensive equipment. The major interventions are provided by registered nurses who manage the project. The model interventions include the detection of patients with sleep health problems, their examination, course of patient education aimed at providing information concerning possible consequences of sleep deficiency, the recommendation of approaches to deal with the problem, and post-implementation survey. The approaches to coping with sleep problems include a technology-based one and a non-technologic which are used in combination. The technology-based approach includes the use of smartphones and healthy smart bracelets that are synchronized and monitor sleep. The non-technologic approach includes alterations of lifestyles that comprise a change in diet, daily routines, and sleeping habits.
Nurse-led and nurse-managed health care
According to Norlander (2011), nursing education includes community health as one of the primary concerns. The promotion of continuous nurse-led or nurse-managed care is among their tasks. For the suggested model, nurses are a powerful instrument. It is their task to study the health problems of the community they serve and implement the appropriate models to meet the demand of the community. The Healthy Sleep for Low-Income Youth Model is a nurse-managed because nurses provide the examination of patients and can reveal the sleep problems, they manage the communication with the patients who have sleep health problems, provide patient education interventions, and evaluate the results through the assessment of patient outcomes.
Partnerships and collaboration
Every innovative nursing care delivery model needs partnerships and collaborations. They can contribute to the efficiency of the model and thus improve patient outcomes. For the presented model, both professional and organizational level partnerships can be applied. The professional partnerships comprise managers at work in case the participants who apply the model are employees, and tutors from colleges or universities in case students are involved. These partners can help to evaluate the efficiency of the model through recording the learning or job performance of the participants after they implement the model interventions. The organizational partnership includes hospitals and other healthcare facilities that can provide information on the patients who report health problems related to sleep deficiency.
Continuity of care across settings
An efficient model should provide continuous care in case patients change their location. In the Healthy Sleep for Low-Income Youth Model, the continuity of care is implemented through on-line communication in messengers or web-page of the model. There is a support service with a nurse on duty who can answer the questions or advise on sleep health issues.
Technology
Any innovative model demands the use of technology. The model itself needs the creation of a web-page to spread information and contact patients. Low-technology tools in this model include patients’ devices such as smartphones and healthy smart bracelets that can be synchronized and monitor sleep. However, it is not demanding because sleep habits can be controlled with the help of an ordinary clock or watch. As for high-technology instruments, they can be used for patient diagnostic. Nevertheless, diagnostic will be provided within local healthcare facilities, thus these instruments will not be included in the model’s budget.
Development and Implementation Team for the Healthy Sleep for Low-Income Youth Model
The team is crucial for the implementation of the model. Appropriate distribution of roles and duties results in the successful implementation of the interventions. The team of the Healthy Sleep for Low-Income Youth Model includes registered nurses who directly work with patients, and physicians who function as consultants in case health problems caused by the sleep deficiency are more serious than it was expected. Other health specialists can be introduced in case of necessity and are not included in the staff which contributes to the cost-efficiency of the model.
Evaluation of the Healthy Sleep for Low-Income Youth Model: Outcome Measurement
Every nursing care model is supposed to bring something new in healthcare. Thus, it has a certain goal that should be achieved. After the implementation of the model, there is a necessity to check its effectiveness and make changes if it can increase its positive impact. For the Healthy Sleep for Low-Income Youth Model, the evaluation process will be concentrated on its goal. Since the model was aimed at the reduction of sleep deficiency and improvement of patient health outcomes, these variables will be assessed through a survey. The participants will get a questionnaire before the interventions suggested by the model and after. They will have to assess their sleep health and general health condition before and after the implementation of the interventions. Another survey will be suggested to the managers and tutors to assess the performance of the experiment participants because sleep is considered crucial for work and learning efficiency. The survey will be conducted through e-mail to save time and costs.
References
Buysse, D. (2014). Sleep health: Can we define it? Does it matter? Sleep, 37(1), 9-17. Web.
Hirshkowitz, M., Whiton, K., Albert, S., Alessi, C., Bruni, O., DonCarlos, L. … Hillard, P.A. (2015). National Sleep Foundation’s sleep time duration recommendations: Methodology and results summary. Sleep Health, 1(1), 40-43. Web.
Laposky, A., Van Cauter, E., & Diez-Roux, A. (2016). Reducing health disparities: The role of sleep deficiency and sleep disorders. Sleep Medicine, 18, 3-6. Web.
Norlander, L. (Ed.). (2011). Transformational models of nursing across different care settings. Report: The future of nursing: Leading change, advancing health (Appendix G). Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine.
Olson, R., Crain, T., Bodner, T., King, R., Hammer, L., Klein, L. … Buxton, O.M. (2015). A workplace intervention improves sleep: Results from the randomized controlled work, family, and health study. Sleep Health, 1(1), 55-65. Web.
Sleep health. (2017). Web.