Development of a culturally tailored sleep intervention for midlife African American women: A scoping review

Sleep disturbances are prevalent among midlife African American women (AAW). Given the cultural and psychosocial factors influencing AAW's sleep health, we aim to develop culturally tailored sleep interventions that address their unique needs.

This scoping review examines (1) sleep in midlife AAW, (2) factors contributing to their sleep disturbances, (3) previous culturally tailored sleep interventions evaluated in this population, and (4) strategies for developing culturally tailored sleep interventions for midlife AAW. CINAHL, PubMed, and PsycINFO were searched for relevant sources.

Midlife AAW experience worse sleep quantity and quality, both objective and subjective, than White women. Factors contributing to midlife AAW's sleep disturbances include vasomotor symptoms, racism-related stress, various stressors and psychological factors, the superwoman/strong Black woman schema, and environmental factors. A very few studies have applied culturally tailored sleep interventions involving midlife AAW, including sleep health education delivered by peer educators. Recommendations for developing and evaluating a culturally tailored sleep intervention for midlife AAW include the following: (1) use linguistically and culturally tailored methods for recruitment and content, (2) incorporate cultural concepts and values such as religious beliefs and spirituality, (3) address population-specific sleep barriers such as racism-related stress, (4) involve family members, (5) involve community facilitators, and (6) implement interventions in culturally familiar settings, such as churches.

This study provides practical strategies for developing tailored sleep interventions for midlife AAW. Future research should continue to explore and refine these approaches to improve sleep health outcomes for AAW and promote their overall well-being.