Lea Ward Staff Introduce Sleeping Packs for Patients

Innovative staff at Lea Ward in Tower Hamlets have introduced sleeping packs to help service users get the best rest possible as part of their mental health recovery.

Service users at the male inpatient ward are given a pack including an eye mask, ear plugs, bag of lavender to put in the pillow case for relaxation and calming herbal teas, as well as tips for a good night’s sleep.

The items promote healthy sleeping practices and encourage behavioral changes by raising awareness on the importance of sleep for mental health.

They have been introduced as part of the Quality Improvement (QI) ‘Dream Big: Improving Sleep on Lea Ward’ project led by Occupational Therapist Jessica Oglethorpe and Clinical Lead Nurse on Ward Mary McGovern.

The project was launched last year in response to service users’ feedback that they were not sleeping well on wards, part of the reason being disturbance at night due to noise and light, particularly during the routine checks.

“Service users have been involved in every step of this project,” said Jessica.

“They have designed images to decorate the sleeping packs as part of the ward’s weekly Creative Group and are now working on a poster to promote the project in the Trust.”

The project group are also planning weekly Health and Wellbeing group meetings to educate service users on behaviors that impact the quality of sleep such as caffeine/nicotine intake, the use of technology at night and diet.

Group meetings on insomnia are also due to be introduced.