Download the Recruitment Poster (English)
Download the Recruitment Poster (French)
Sleeping pill/sedative overuse is a widespread issue that disproportionately affects older adults aged 65+. The risks of sedative use (which includes the increased risk of falls, head injuries, and fractures) in this population is considerable. Relying on family physicians, nurse practitioners, or pharmacists to recognize sedative overuse and manage its deprescribing is not a viable solution due to the landscape of our healthcare system.
Empowering individuals to share responsibility for their health care and medication management is one way that has been effective in sedative deprescribing. Patient-directed educational materials focused on the risks of sedatives, the benefits to reducing and stopping sedatives, how to get healthcare provider support for this, and the alternatives to sedatives have already been created, however, spreading the word about these has included social media and mailing these 11-page documents to individuals. This can be resource-intensive, and previous research has indicated that smaller mail outs directing the receiver to access the resources could be effective.
The goal of this project is to co-design English and French versions of a mailout that shares information about sedative use and to encourage people to access resources and discuss deprescribing with a healthcare professional. Mock-ups of mail outs have been created through consultation with patient partners on the research team, the Canadian Medication Appropriateness and Deprescribing Network Public Advisory Committee, and the research team members. These mockups are used as a starting point, where the format, layout, and content of these mailers will be entirely chosen by participants in the focus groups through discussion, priority exercises, and the theoretical framework of acceptability.
Patient partners have been engaged on the research team throughout inception and design of the project, and continue through facilitating focus groups, analysis, and knowledge translation.
Together, we want to:
- Reach older adults who have insomnia and/or use sedatives, as well as their caregivers.
- Share clear, reliable information about insomnia, its treatments, sedative use, and available resources.
- Encourage people to use trusted resources like the Sleepwell booklets.
- Support conversations with healthcare providers about reducing or stopping sedatives safely.
Creating the mailout in both French and English helps ensure that everyone, including those who may not use the internet, has equitable access to this important information.
How the Mailout Will Be Created
The mailout will be developed in both French and English through a 5-phase process that includes focus groups, prototyping, and surveys.
We’ll work together through five phases to co-create clear, useful mailouts in both French and English.
Survey – A short survey will check how well the final mailouts work for different groups.
Consultation – We’ll start by hearing directly from older adults, caregivers, and families about what matters most.
Revision – Our design team will refine early drafts based on your feedback.
Follow-Up – You’ll see updated versions and help us choose what works best.
Finalization – We’ll polish the designs into a final product.
Eligibility
You are eligible to take part if you:
- Speak English or French
- Live in New Brunswick
And fall into one of two groups:
- Are an adult aged 65+ with experience (current or previous) with sleeping pills/sedative hypnotics for insomnia, or
- Are a caregiver/care partner (aged 19+) to an older adult who has experience with sleeping pills/sedative hypnotics
Time Commitment
If you choose to take part in this project, you would be asked to participate in a 2-hour in-person or virtual focus group that would be used to gather your feedback on some draft mail outs, and take part in the design process. The focus groups would take place at a location and time that is convenient for you and other participants near you.
You would also have the option to participate in a follow up 1.5 hour focus group to provide more feedback on the edited mail outs, and later the option to participate in a final survey to provide feedback prior to the finalization of the mailout.
Compensation
Compensation will be provided.