A Survey of Practicing Sleep Coaches.

Publisher: Routledge Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 101149327 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1540-2010 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 15402002 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Behav Sleep Med Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: 2009- : London : Routledge
Original Publication: Mahwah, N.J. : Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, c2003-

Counseling*/education ; Counseling*/standards ; Sleep Hygiene* ; Surveys and Questionnaires*; Health Personnel/*statistics & numerical data ; Sleep Wake Disorders/*therapy; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Credentialing ; Female ; Health Personnel/education ; Health Personnel/standards ; Humans ; Infant ; Internationality ; Male ; Sleep Wake Disorders/psychology ; Sleep Wake Disorders/rehabilitation ; United States

Background: Sleep coaches are individuals of various backgrounds who offer services to families struggling with behavioral childhood sleep problems. We conducted a survey of coaches to further elucidate scope of practice, practice patterns, geographic distribution, education, training, and beliefs regarding qualification requirements.
Methods: A Web-based survey was completed by 142 individuals who identified as a sleep coach.
Results: Coaches were distributed across 17 countries and 5 continents. Overall, 65% of coaches served clients in countries beyond their home country. Within the United States, coaches were generally located in more affluent and well-educated zip codes near large metropolitan centers, 91% served clients beyond their home state, and 56% served clients internationally. Educational background varied across coaches (12% high school degree, 51% bachelor's degree, 32% master's degree, 2% doctoral degree, 1.5% JD degree). Few coaches (20%) were or had been licensed health care providers or carried malpractice insurance (38%). Coaches usually provided services for children < 4 months of age to about 6 years of age, and were much less likely to provide services for children with comorbid neurodevelopmental (32%) or significant medical disorders (19%). Coaches reported an average of 3 new and 6 total clients per week and working 20 hr per week on average. Most coaches (76%) felt that a formal sleep coach training program was the most important qualification for practice.
Conclusions: These results highlight a diversity of background, training, and geographical distribution of sleep coaches, and may help inform discussions regarding guidelines for training and credentialing of sleep coaches.

Date Created: 20160701 Date Completed: 20190327 Latest Revision: 20190327

20221213

10.1080/15402002.2016.1188394

27362893