Data Collection
sleepiness, insomnia, illness
Data were collected from January to March 2018. The primary outcomes were sleep
quality and sleepiness, measured from PSQIThe older adults assisted by FHS in the municipality of Bom Jesus were allocated
into different groups. While group 1 (G1) received health education using an
educational booklet, group 2 (G2) was exposed to health education with verbal
nursing guidelines.For randomization, the 36 microareas of the municipality’s FHS were stratified,
which totaled the clusters to be randomized (18 for each group). For
randomization, the alphabetical order of the microarea names was considered,
which were previously obtained during a visit to the BHU. The random form, of
the 18 microareas included in G1 and the 18 in G2, was carried out with the aid
of R software. For this, it was established that the sequence of numbers (1 and
2) presented randomly by the software would determine allocation in G1 and
G2.Randomization by microarea allowed blinding with concealment of the group that
older adults participated in and geographically distanced the participants,
avoiding contaminating the sample.Community Health Workers (CHW) and FHS nurses previously provided a list of older
adults to be visited. The time for the home visit (HV) was scheduled by CHW in
advance. Participants stayed in the quietest place in the house, chosen by the
older adults themselves, with the researcher positioned in front of them,
without the presence of family members, so as not to interfere with the answers.
During the first HV, pre-intervention instruments were applied for data
collection, and immediately after, the interventions were performed.For the older adults in G1, a booklet called “Intervention content organization took into account the four pillars of the HBM
theory. The first allowed the reader to reflect on susceptibility to poor sleep
quality. The second referred to perceived severity, aimed at recognizing the
physical and physiological consequences of sleep deprivation. Perceived benefit,
the third pillar of the HBM, was centered on guidance on sleep hygiene, related
to environmental and behavioral factors on how to make the bedroom cozy to sleep
better and perceive daily well-being. Finally, the fourth pillar,
self-confidence to carry out the action, encouraged older adults to have a
committed attitudeIn the intervention operationalization with G1, the booklet was used, printed in
the colored version, in open format: A4 – 29 x 20 cmFor the older adults in G2, the guidelines on sleep hygiene were presented in the
form of a dialogued exposition, without a booklet or any other image resource;
however, they followed the same content based on the HBM and sequence presented
to G1The guidelines for both groups were passed on based on the beliefs of the
theoretical model adopted in this study. Older adults were encouraged to realize
their susceptibility to illness due to not sleeping well, the severity of the
situation, when this basic human need is not met, health behaviors to
prevent/treat the problem and its benefits and self-confidence to carry out
sleep hygiene guidelines, despite the barriers. Visit duration in both groups
was approximately 60 minutes for each older adult.Eight weeks after the educational interventions, in the second HV, the data
collection instruments were reapplied in both groups. This step followed the
same format as the pre-intervention. The time interval was defined by guidance
of insomnia consensusTo this end, we proceeded with the qualification of three nurses to carry out the
post-intervention assessment and these professionals returned to the older
adults’ house without knowing their allocations in G1 or 2, proceeding with the
application of the instruments. Auxiliary researchers underwent theoretical and
practical training in order to guarantee standardization for data
collection.