Sleep

Sleep is a basic human need that is essential for health. Poor sleep health contributes to a myriad of health problems, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, and mental health conditions. For those impacted by incarceration, sleep may be challenging. The environments in correctional facilities and after release from incarceration may contribute to poor sleep health in this population. Our work aims to understand how incarceration affects sleep both during and after incarceration and how incarceration may contribute to sleep and health disparities among people who have experienced incarceration.

Incarceration, Sleep Health, and Cardiovascular Disease Risk is a K01 grant funded by NHLBI that aims to understand how incarceration affects sleep at the individual, environmental, and institutional levels. We hypothesize that people with a history of incarceration are exposed to population-specific social and physical environmental risks during incarceration and after release that contribute to sleep deficiency and CVD risk. By using community-engaged and mixed-methods approach, we will study population-specific risk factors contributing to sleep problems and CVD risk. We will collect data through qualitative interviews (Connecticut and Alabama) and geospatial analysis (U.S. jails, prisons, and halfway houses). We will develop and pilot an instrument to assess sleep deficiency and environmental factors impacting sleep in this population and collect clinical data on CVD risk.

We will collect data through qualitative interviews and geospatial analysis. Interviews will be conducted in Connecticut and Alabama with people recently released from a carceral setting and staff of correctional facilities and halfway houses. We will use geospatial analysis to map jails, prisons, and halfway houses across the United States and look at environmental factors that could affect sleep in these facilities. Finally, we will develop and pilot an instrument to assess sleep deficiency and environmental factors impacting sleep in this population and collect clinical data on CVD risk.

Supplement to Dr. Wang’s HEAL grant from NIDA Transitions Clinic Network: Post Incarceration Addiction Treatment, Healthcare, and Social Support (TCN PATHS). This supplement will examine the association between sleep deficiency and OUD treatment retention in a sample of people receiving MOUD who were recently released from jail and explore sleep environment post-release as a potential mediator.