Impact of Bed Provision and Sleep Education

Insufficient and poor-quality sleep impacts more than half of school-aged children, and is associated with significant impairments in child neurocognitive, academic, behavioral, and physical health functioning. Lower socioeconomic status (SES) children are at increased risk for poor sleep. Compared to their higher-SES peers, lower-SES youth tend to obtain less sleep overall and experience worse sleep quality. Many children of lower-SES also may live in noisy or high-violence neighborhoods and in overcrowded homes that lack a child bed or other designated child sleep space. These environmental factors may perpetuate SES-related health disparities in child sleep duration, quality, and poor sleep health behaviors (i.e., bedroom electronics). Although there is a robust evidence-base for treating childhood sleep problems, there is a paucity of sleep intervention research focused on lower-SES children.

Beds for Kids is a Philadelphia-area program that is part of the larger volunteer organization, One House at a Time, that provides lower-SES children with beds, bedding, and a sleep education brochure. To qualify for program participation, youth must be: (1) between the ages of 2 and 20 years, (2) living without an individual bed (e.g., sleeping on the floor, on a sofa, or crowded into one bed with family members), and (3) living in a household whose income is at or below 100 percent of the United States poverty threshold. The program accepts referrals from area social service agencies in the greater Philadelphia area.