Protocol for academic-community collaboration in the sweet dreams study, a community-integrated study of time tradeoffs, sleep and cardiometabolic health among minoritized women

Abstract

Study objectives: Women from racially and ethnically minoritized communities experience cardiometabolic health disparities. Insufficient sleep and poor sleep quality are common and potentially modifiable factors that impact cardiometabolic health; however, women face unique challenges to sleep. A bi-directional community-integrated approach is used as a foundation to learn more about sleep in under-researched populations of Utah, resulting in a study approach that is both effective and rigorous.

Methods: We present the protocol for community integration and development of focus groups among female community health workers who represent the four communities participating in this study: African Immigrant, Black/African American, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and Latina. We describe establishing relationships, initiating the project, preparing and conducting data collection, analysis, and dissemination plans.

Results: We anticipate the results of this project will provide unique perspectives about sleep in the participating communities, based on the experience of community health workers as community members and trusted leaders of their communities.

Conclusions: This project continues an ongoing partnership between community health workers and academic researchers focused on reducing disparities in cardiometabolic disorders. The results of this project will lead to identification of future research questions, outreach/education efforts, and developing a plan for future interventions among diverse racial and ethnic groups in our community.