I-SLEPT: Integrated Sleep and Life Engagement Program for Transitions (I-SLEPT)

April 23, 2026 updated by: VA Office of Research and Development
Sleep is essential to functional recovery in rehabilitation settings; however, sleep is likely to be disrupted during rehabilitation admissions. Adverse effects of these disruptions do not subside after discharge, leading to additional consequences such as poor physical function. Veterans are particularly impacted by poor sleep and medical complexities that can lead to injuries requiring rehabilitative care to support their recovery. This may be more apparent in older Veteran populations. After discharge, Veterans must re-acclimate to their home environment while facing potential changes in their sleep, life engagement (e.g., pleasant activities, physical function), and health. This study will create the I-SLEPT (Integrated Sleep and Life Engagement Program for Transitions) intervention, which will support Veterans by stabilizing their sleep and by maximizing participation in meaningful activities during a critical and vulnerable period of recovery.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This project will create I-SLEPT (Integrated Sleep and Life Engagement Program for Transitions), a novel intervention to enhance sleep health and life engagement during the transition period following discharge from VA subacute rehabilitation. The development of I-SLEPT will be informed by both Veterans and experts. Including the Veteran perspective is essential to reflect Veterans' choice, ensure access to timely care, and prioritize effective care solutions to improve Veterans' health and well-being. Veterans are more likely to report poor sleep and medical complexities than non-Veterans which may further complicate their readjustment to their home environment after discharge. The proposed study is a single arm clinical trial. Veterans aged 50+ discharged home from the subacute rehabilitation units at VA Boston's Community Living Center will be recruited to complete surveys and interviews informing I-SLEPT creation (Aim 1; N=20), complete a preliminary trial (Aim 2; N=5) or complete a single-arm Proof-of-Concept trial (Aim 3; N=40). Veterans participating in Aims 2 or 3 will complete assessments of sleep health and life engagement, as well as acceptability measures. Results may also inform future work adapting this intervention to other transitional phases (e.g., discharge from acute hospitalization), support Veterans across the lifespan, and support intervention implementation by staff from multiple disciplines and specialties, including nursing, social work, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and Veteran peer specialists.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02130-4817
        • VA Boston Healthcare System Jamaica Plain Campus, Jamaica Plain, MA
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Julia T Boyle, PsyD

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Admitted to and discharged from VA Boston Community Living Center subacute rehabilitation
  • English-speaking
  • Discharged to a home setting
  • Has capacity and does not have severe cognitive impairment
  • Obtains a score >= 8 on the Brief Interview for Mental Status (BIMS)
  • Endorses at least 2 items as "Rarely/Never" or "Sometimes" on the RuSATED measure AND/OR endorses they are achieving their goals at a "much worse" or "a little worse" level on the What Matters Most Tool.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Discharged from Long-Term Care, Hospice and Palliative Care, or Spinal Cord Injury bed specialty
  • Moderate to severe dementia diagnosis, delirium, or active psychosis
  • Healthcare proxy is activated in electronic health record
  • A diagnosis of a disorder of hypersomnolence, non-REM parasomnia, or Nightmare Disorder as indicated in electronic health record
  • High acute risk for suicide

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: I-SLEPT
Veterans in Aim 3 will complete I-SLEPT, a 4-week telehealth intervention, delivered by a licensed clinical psychologist. Sessions will take place once a week for 60 minutes primarily using VA Video Connect. Sessions will include components focused on 1) promoting sleep health through education and habits and 2) increase engagement in meaningful activities.
Behavioral: I-SLEPT
Veterans in Aim 3 will complete I-SLEPT, a 4-week telehealth intervention, delivered by a licensed clinical psychologist. Sessions will take place once a week for 60 minutes primarily using VA Video Connect. Sessions will include components focused on 1) promoting sleep health through education and habits and 2) increase engagement in meaningful activities.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
RuSATED
Time Frame: Baseline, Endpoint (30 day), 3 Month
A brief 6-item measure encompassing the dimensions of sleep health: Regularity, Satisfaction, Alertness, Timing, Efficiency, and Duration. Scores range from 0 to 12 with higher total scores suggesting better sleep health. Items are rated on a 3-point scale from 0 to 2 (with 0 = Rarely/Never; 1 = Sometimes; and 2 = Usually/Always).
Baseline, Endpoint (30 day), 3 Month
What Matters Most (WMM) Tool
Time Frame: Baseline, Endpoint (30 day), 3 Month
A one-page brief tool presenting 3 domains (Staying Independent, Enjoying Life, and Connecting), each containing a list of 9 items with the option of adding a 10th item of their own. Veterans will be asked to identify up to 3 items within each domain that matters most to them. After up to 9 items total have been identified, Veterans will be asked to "pick the most important thing" and describe what this would look like for them "day to day or week to week." Veterans will be encouraged to pick up to 3 things that matter most above all. Finally, Veterans are asked to rate how well they are achieving their life engagement goals and what matters most to them, employing a 5-point Likert-style goal attainment scale (+2 = much better than expected; +1 = a little better than expected; 0 = as expected; -1 = a little worse than expected; -2 = much worse than expected). A score of 0-2 indicate satisfactory goal attainment in the ar
Baseline, Endpoint (30 day), 3 Month
Acceptability of Intervention Measure (AIM)
Time Frame: Endpoint (30 day)
A 4-item measure that assess acceptability, defined here as the perception that I-SLEPT is acceptable, palatable, or satisfactory.
Endpoint (30 day)
Feasibility of Intervention Measure (FIM)
Time Frame: Endpoint (30 day)
A 4-item measure that assesses feasibility defined here as the extent to which the session material can be successfully used - defined as from the Veteran's perspective of applying what is learned after the session.
Endpoint (30 day)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Intervention Appropriateness Measure (IAM)
Time Frame: Endpoint (30 day)
A 4-item measure that assesses appropriateness, defined here as the Veteran's perspective on the perceived fit, relevance, or compatibility of session material to the Veteran's sleep health and life engagement concerns.
Endpoint (30 day)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

VA Office of Research and Development

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Julia T Boyle, PsyD, VA Boston Healthcare System Jamaica Plain Campus, Jamaica Plain, MA

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

May 25, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

March 31, 2031

Study Completion (Estimated)

March 31, 2031

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 19, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 19, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

January 5, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 27, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 23, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • RRD9-010-25M
  • 1IK2RD000347-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract: RRDT)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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