Understanding sleep health challenges of defence shift workers to design a digital, sleep and circadian management tool
Abstract Defence personnel need to be agile and responsive in their assessment of strategic and tactical tasks. Sleep and circadian disruptions, however, can compromise personnel’s readiness. Digital health technologies have the potential to provide sleep and circadian health management advice but n...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2025-03-01
|
| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-93597-y |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850208342550511616 |
|---|---|
| author | Prerna Varma Lin Shen Svetlana Postnova Kylie King Mark E. Howard Eugene Aidman Shantha W. M. Rajaratnam Tracey L. Sletten |
| author_facet | Prerna Varma Lin Shen Svetlana Postnova Kylie King Mark E. Howard Eugene Aidman Shantha W. M. Rajaratnam Tracey L. Sletten |
| author_sort | Prerna Varma |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Defence personnel need to be agile and responsive in their assessment of strategic and tactical tasks. Sleep and circadian disruptions, however, can compromise personnel’s readiness. Digital health technologies have the potential to provide sleep and circadian health management advice but need to be designed with active involvement from stakeholders and communities. This study explored challenges with shift work in a cohort of defence personnel to identify end-user expectations for a sleep health smartphone application. Eight shift working Air Traffic Control personnel from the Australian Defence Force participated in 60-70-minute semi-structured online interviews. Informal discussions were also held with various defence stakeholders to determine requirements for an app. Defence personnel reported disruptions to their sleep, family, and social life due to environmental and operational circumstances, such as shift work, mental load, and unplanned schedules. They were highly receptive to a digital intervention and emphasised need for personalised support. Gamification, availability of the app via the defence forces, and high data security were recognised as key enablers. These insights should serve as theoretical foundation for further development, co-design, and testing of digital health tools in other shift worker cohorts, and to better examine and address the impacts of operational demands on their health and performance. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e50d9eb12bc640cfb67793d3e05df0e6 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-e50d9eb12bc640cfb67793d3e05df0e62025-08-20T02:10:16ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-03-0115111210.1038/s41598-025-93597-yUnderstanding sleep health challenges of defence shift workers to design a digital, sleep and circadian management toolPrerna Varma0Lin Shen1Svetlana Postnova2Kylie King3Mark E. Howard4Eugene Aidman5Shantha W. M. Rajaratnam6Tracey L. Sletten7School of Psychological Sciences and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash UniversitySchool of Psychological Sciences and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash UniversitySchool of Physics, The University of SydneySchool of Psychological Sciences and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash UniversitySchool of Psychological Sciences and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash UniversityDefence, Science and Technology Group, Department of DefenceSchool of Psychological Sciences and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash UniversitySchool of Psychological Sciences and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash UniversityAbstract Defence personnel need to be agile and responsive in their assessment of strategic and tactical tasks. Sleep and circadian disruptions, however, can compromise personnel’s readiness. Digital health technologies have the potential to provide sleep and circadian health management advice but need to be designed with active involvement from stakeholders and communities. This study explored challenges with shift work in a cohort of defence personnel to identify end-user expectations for a sleep health smartphone application. Eight shift working Air Traffic Control personnel from the Australian Defence Force participated in 60-70-minute semi-structured online interviews. Informal discussions were also held with various defence stakeholders to determine requirements for an app. Defence personnel reported disruptions to their sleep, family, and social life due to environmental and operational circumstances, such as shift work, mental load, and unplanned schedules. They were highly receptive to a digital intervention and emphasised need for personalised support. Gamification, availability of the app via the defence forces, and high data security were recognised as key enablers. These insights should serve as theoretical foundation for further development, co-design, and testing of digital health tools in other shift worker cohorts, and to better examine and address the impacts of operational demands on their health and performance.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-93597-yParticipatory approachesShift workSleep health supportMilitary healthBehaviour changeIntervention development |
| spellingShingle | Prerna Varma Lin Shen Svetlana Postnova Kylie King Mark E. Howard Eugene Aidman Shantha W. M. Rajaratnam Tracey L. Sletten Understanding sleep health challenges of defence shift workers to design a digital, sleep and circadian management tool Scientific Reports Participatory approaches Shift work Sleep health support Military health Behaviour change Intervention development |
| title | Understanding sleep health challenges of defence shift workers to design a digital, sleep and circadian management tool |
| title_full | Understanding sleep health challenges of defence shift workers to design a digital, sleep and circadian management tool |
| title_fullStr | Understanding sleep health challenges of defence shift workers to design a digital, sleep and circadian management tool |
| title_full_unstemmed | Understanding sleep health challenges of defence shift workers to design a digital, sleep and circadian management tool |
| title_short | Understanding sleep health challenges of defence shift workers to design a digital, sleep and circadian management tool |
| title_sort | understanding sleep health challenges of defence shift workers to design a digital sleep and circadian management tool |
| topic | Participatory approaches Shift work Sleep health support Military health Behaviour change Intervention development |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-93597-y |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT prernavarma understandingsleephealthchallengesofdefenceshiftworkerstodesignadigitalsleepandcircadianmanagementtool AT linshen understandingsleephealthchallengesofdefenceshiftworkerstodesignadigitalsleepandcircadianmanagementtool AT svetlanapostnova understandingsleephealthchallengesofdefenceshiftworkerstodesignadigitalsleepandcircadianmanagementtool AT kylieking understandingsleephealthchallengesofdefenceshiftworkerstodesignadigitalsleepandcircadianmanagementtool AT markehoward understandingsleephealthchallengesofdefenceshiftworkerstodesignadigitalsleepandcircadianmanagementtool AT eugeneaidman understandingsleephealthchallengesofdefenceshiftworkerstodesignadigitalsleepandcircadianmanagementtool AT shanthawmrajaratnam understandingsleephealthchallengesofdefenceshiftworkerstodesignadigitalsleepandcircadianmanagementtool AT traceylsletten understandingsleephealthchallengesofdefenceshiftworkerstodesignadigitalsleepandcircadianmanagementtool |