Sleep is an important determinant of overall health and is required to support well-being across the lifespan. For the purposes of this initiative, sleep deficiencies include: insufficient sleep duration; poor sleep efficiency, quality, timing, or regularity; as well as sleep/circadian disorders. These deficiencies occur disproportionately among populations that experience health disparities. Sleep deficiencies are associated with a wide variety of health disparities, including those observed in hypertension, stroke, diabetes, liver disease, cancer, obesity, and poorer cognitive, emotional, and social functioning. Conversely, healthy sleep is a protective factor for overall quality of life and adverse health outcomes, and successful treatment of sleep disorders (e.g., via CPAP for obstructive sleep apnea) has been associated with improvements in cardiometabolic health and quality of life.
Sleep health disparities are prevalent in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the prevalence of age-adjusted recommended sleep duration of 7 or more hours is lower for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, African American or Black individuals, and American Indians and Alaska Natives, compared with White, Latino, and Asian adults. For some of these populations, these sleep disparities emerge early in life and persist over time. For example, among children aged 4 months to 14 years, insufficient sleep duration is highest in African American or Black children compared to all other racial and ethnic groups. Sleep deficiencies also occur more commonly among unemployed compared to employed adults, as well as among those with high school diplomas only compared to those with college degrees. Recent evidence also suggests that sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals experience sleep health disparities compared to heterosexual and cisgender individuals, at least in part due to influences of stigma, minority stressors such as discrimination (including that resulting from having intersecting minoritized identities), and mental health challenges and substance use disorders, which also influence sleep health. In sum, the same populations that are most impacted by conditions with known health disparities also experience sleep deficiencies at disproportionate rates.
The objective of this funding opportunity is to support non-pharmacological interventions to promote sleep health, reduce sleep health disparities, and examine sleep as a modifiable factor to reduce health disparities for other health outcomes among populations that experience health disparities.
Applications are due September 7, 2027.