The Nightlight Falls Prevention Study

Summary

This project will test the effectiveness of a novel intervention consisting of unobtrusive, low-intensity, horizontal and vertical lights that outline the bathroom or entry way doorframe in residents' rooms and provide visual cues to promote postural stability. Specifically, this pragmatic crossover trial will enroll 335 assisted living residents with dementia and follow them for one year, comparing the incidence of nighttime falls during the lighting condition to the incidence of falls during the control condition; secondarily, it will determine whether and to what extent the intervention effect is modified by resident- and environmental-level risk factors, and satisfaction with the lighting system.

Interventions

• Novel Lighting Condition · OTHER

  Horizontal and vertical lights over a doorway visible from the bed

• Control Lighting Condition · OTHER

  Standard night light plugged into wall socket

Published eligibility criteria

Verbatim from the registry. Only the site can decide how these apply to a specific patient.

Inclusion Criteria:

* Has a diagnosis of dementia
* Lives in a participating AL community
* Not blind
* Not on hospice and in a worsening state
* Not expected to die or transfer during the next 6 months
* Reside in a private room; or reside in a shared room if

  1. one resident is male and one is female and both are participating in the project, or
  2. they are of any gender, as long as there is a wall divider between their bedrooms
* Do not have an overnight sitter in the room every night

Exclusion Criteria:

• None

Sites (1)

• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina