Project details

Summary

What is the study about?

We think getting good quality sleep is important to us all. But many people attending mental health services have difficulties sleeping. People may be lying in bed for hours without sleep; having nightmares; being up all night because of fears or hearing voices; sleeping a lot in the day; or having very irregular sleep patterns and sleeping at the wrong times. 

What are you trying to find out? 

We want to find out if an eight-session sleep therapy can improve sleep. We also want to find out whether improving sleep brings other benefits to a person’s life. For example, if it improves mood, concentration, and thinking.

The sleep therapy is provided in approximately eight sessions over 12 weeks. You would meet with a sleep therapist online via Teams for these sessions. There may be telephone calls between sessions. The number and length of sessions may vary according to a person’s need. 

The treatment aims to achieve regular sleep at the correct time of day. It helps a person build up the need for sleep during the day, develop an evening wind-down routine, and then help your body learn to fall asleep when it is bed at the right time. The treatment is personalised for you. For example, if nightmares are occurring then these might be addressed too. Sleeping Better is a type of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).

Who is it for?

People who can take part in the research will:

• Be 14 years old and above
• Have current problems with their sleep 
• Have had distressing experiences such as worrying that others may be trying to harm them or hearing voices

If you were interested in Sleeping Better, then we would check to see whether it would be suitable for you. Our aim is for many people to take part in the research; however, you won’t meet with the other participants as part of this study.  

What does taking part involve? 

Please watch the two minute animation video that explains what taking part will involve, or read the information at the top of this webpage. 

Sleeping Better animation: YouTube link

To find out whether Sleeping Better does work, half of participants will have the sleep therapy and half will not. We then see how people have got on with and without the therapy. It is decided completely at random who does and does not get the therapy. Everyone has a 50% chance (one in two) of getting the sleep therapy.

Everyone will meet a research assistant online at the beginning and then after 12 and 24 weeks. This is to carry out assessments to see how people get on. You will be compensated for your time completing these assessments.

You are being approached to take part via the Oxford online delivery centre. Therefore, the assessments and therapy meetings would all be conducted online (via Teams and telephone calls) by staff members at the University of Oxford/ Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust.

At the end of the study, you may be invited to take part in an additional meeting. This will be an interview with a member of the Sleeping Better team to talk about your experiences of the study.

Why is it important? 

We hope that the sleep therapy will help people’s sleep and that will lead to other benefits. The research aims to find out whether this is the case.

How can I find out more?

You can find out more information about taking part in this study by downloading the key documents at the top of this page.

If you are interested in taking part in this study, or have questions for the research team, click the button below to email us:

Email the research team