Slaapstraat Evaluatie van een slaapzorgprogramma in de huisartspraktijk

A new care program for people with sleep problems was developed called ‘Slaapstraat’. All care professionals received training to distinguish and diagnose different sleep disorders. We evaluated the effects of implementation of this program in five Dutch regions. The main results were (1) that physicians more often recognize sleep problems, (2) that (by far) not every patient is recognized, (3) that the diagnostic procedures strongly improved, (4) that patients liked the improved diagnostic attention, (5) that patients were less often prescribed sleep medication, and (6) that cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-i), the treatment of choice, is still rarely being used. This new care program is a good first step in improving care for sleep disorders, but there is also a need for better implementation of CBT-i. This might be reached by training the nursing staff and by using books or online CBT-i courses.