Sleep disturbances are common in older populations, but can create major concerns for caregivers and providers.
WalkWise has long measured night-time mobility aid activity to assist healthcare organizations in making informed care decisions for individuals who demonstrate frequent night activity. Sleep disturbances in at-risk elderly may require multi-dimensional interventions, but are often underreported. To provide greater insight into night-time restlessness, WalkWise has launched the Night Owl Score.
Perception vs. Reality
Even with the best of intentions, night time activity can be difficult to self-report. Significant events are often unreported, embarrassing, or simply not remembered by the next morning. Outside of placing cameras or motion sensors in the bedroom and bathroom, there are limited tools available to automatically report concerning behavior back to care providers. This is where the Night Owl Score steps in!
The Night Owl Score is a value between 0 and 100 calculated from the previous night’s activity (9 p.m. to 6 a.m.). A score of 0 means there was no motion at night, and a score of 100 means there were frequent or excessive movement. A Night Owl Score notification can be set using a pre-set threshold or an increase from baseline.
The Night Owl Score provides nursing and therapy teams a thorough metric to assess risk as compared to simply counting night-time walking distance. In the example above, a participant had four distinct periods of walking at night, and they were given a Night Owl Score of 35. This score not only incorporates the number of walking events at night, but also weighs the distance walked and the hour of night (i.e. walking at 2 am is weighted more than walking at 10 pm).
The Night Owl Score is accessible on both the individual’s page as well as on the Dashboard. By checking the Dashboard each morning, care providers can easily see the Night Owl Score of each WalkWise user and address any concerns. With healthcare organizations large and small experiencing staffing shortages, it is more important that ever to use analytics to appropriately prioritize care. The WalkWise Night Owl Score is one of the tools designed to help.