Study of Bedroom Environment Sleep Intervention at Home for Older Adults Living Alone With Memory Concerns

February 27, 2026 updated by: Johns Hopkins University

A Pilot Feasibility Study of Bedroom Environment Sleep Intervention at Home for Older Adults Living Alone With Memory Concerns

This is an eight-week pilot research study designed to test whether simple changes to the bedroom environment along with brief sleep hygiene strategies, can improve sleep in older adults who live alone, have memory concerns, and experience insomnia symptoms. Older adults may be eligible to participate. The intervention will take 8 weeks, which includes 1-2 in-person visits from the research team at the participant's residence (evaluate the bedroom environment, install participant-agreed bedroom changes, deliver target sleep hygiene strategy) and 2 virtual or telephone calls (support environmental and sleep hygiene strategies) over 8 weeks. Sleep and environment data will be collected at screening/baseline, mid-intervention (4-week) and post-intervention (8-week)

Study Overview

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

40

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

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

  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age 65 years and older
  • Living alone in a private residence or independent living setting ≥5 days/week
  • Subjective cognitive decline (Subjective Cognitive Decline Questionnaire MyCog > 7] OR objective mild cognitive impairment (Montreal Cognitive Assessment [MoCA] scores between 18-25).
  • Preserved Function (Functional Activity Questionnaire < 6)
  • Community-dwelling
  • Self-reported insomnia symptoms
  • Residence in the current home for ≥3 months
  • Expectation to sleep in the designated bedroom on ≥80% of nights during the 8 week protocol

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosis of dementia
  • Presence of acute illness or exacerbation of chronic conditions within the past month.
  • Current enrollment in another intervention study

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: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Bedroom Environment Tailoring
Within two weeks of completing the parent study and consent, participants begin the personalized bedroom sleep environment program. During in one or two in-home visits, a research team member will review baseline sensor and actigraphy data and install low-cost environmental modifications (e.g., blackout shades, white-noise device, air purifier, thermostat adjustments). Participants collaborate with the coach to set stimulus-control goals and receive individualized sleep-hygiene guidance. A 30-45-minute virtual follow-up in Weeks 2-3 reviews progress and addresses barriers, with a brief Week 6 check-in to reinforce goals. Ongoing support includes daily self-practice, optional between-visit contact, automated reminders, and passive sensor monitoring to promote adherence and confidence in managing sleep.
Active Comparator: Sleep Health Education
The control group receives a single in-person or virtual session that provides participants with printed and online sleep health education materials. This introductory session aims to equip participants with foundational knowledge about sleep hygiene. Following this initial session, participants will engage in eight weeks of self-directed practice, allowing the participants to apply the information learned at the participant's own pace.
The control group receives a single in-person or virtual session that provides participants with printed and online sleep health education materials. This introductory session aims to equip participants with foundational knowledge about sleep hygiene. Following this initial session, participants will engage in eight weeks of self-directed practice, allowing the participant to apply the information learned at the participant's own pace.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Subjective sleep quality as assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)
Time Frame: Baseline, 4-weeks, 8-weeks
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) is a 19-item self-report measure of overall sleep quality and disturbances over the past 30 days. It includes seven component scores-subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleep medication, and daytime dysfunction-each scored 0-3 (0 = no difficulty; 3 = severe difficulty). Component scores are summed to a global score (0-21), with higher scores indicating worse sleep quality; the global score will be used in the analysis
Baseline, 4-weeks, 8-weeks
Feasibility of study and intervention
Time Frame: Duration of study, approximately 2 years
Feasibility will be assessed by recruitment, retention, fidelity, and safety over the study period, with progression thresholds: ≥70% eligible enrollee ≥85% retained to Week 8, treatment fidelity (coaching delivered ≥80%), and no serious intervention-related adverse events.
Duration of study, approximately 2 years

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Junxin Li, PhD, RN, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing

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)

June 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 1, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

June 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 23, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 23, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

February 27, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 2, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 27, 2026

Last Verified

February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

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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