Innovative Approaches to Advancing Equitable Access to Insomnia Interventions

Area of Science:

• Sleep Medicine
• Behavioral Science
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Insomnia disorder is a common sleep-wake disorder causing significant daytime impairment.
• Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is the established first-line treatment.
• Recent efforts focus on making CBT-I more accessible and scalable.

Purpose of the Study:

• Identify key challenges hindering equitable access to insomnia interventions.
• Examine emerging strategies to overcome these access barriers.
• Promote wider adoption of evidence-based insomnia treatments.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of challenges in insomnia intervention delivery.
• Analysis of emerging approaches for improving access and scalability.
• Synthesis of evidence on transdiagnostic, digital, and stepped care models.

Main Results:

• Key barriers include high comorbidity, limited real-world testing, provider shortages, and structural funding issues.
• Promising solutions include transdiagnostic approaches, implementation strategies, non-specialist providers, brief interventions, and digital/stepped care models.
• These strategies aim to enhance scalability and address practical limitations.

Conclusions:

• Addressing practical and structural barriers is crucial for equitable access to insomnia interventions.
• Research prioritizing real-world application is essential to bridge the evidence-practice gap.
• Improving access to effective insomnia treatments requires a focus on scalability and implementation.