Research Proposal: Impact of Sleep, Dementia, and Aggression in Adults

This research proposal presents two distinct research questions within the field of nursing. The first focuses on the relationship between sleep parameters (wake after sleep onset, sleep onset latency, total sleep time) and cognitive domains (attention, episodic memory, processing memory, and global cognition) in community-dwelling adults aged 60 and older in Malta. The proposed intervention aims to develop clinical care solutions for older adults with dementia, addressing sleep and cognitive issues. The second research question investigates non-pharmacological methods for managing aggressive patients in mental health settings, targeting patients with erratic emotions and nurses. The study seeks to identify and recommend effective non-pharmacological strategies for handling aggressive behavior, especially in nursing homes and acute wards, comparing these methods to pharmacological approaches. Both proposals outline the targeted populations, interventions, expected outcomes, relevant areas of nursing, and key search terms.

Running Head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Research proposal
Students Name
University Affiliation
Date

RESEARCH PROPOSAL 2
Title one: sleep, depressive signs and symptoms and cognition in adults and caregivers of
individuals with dementia
Research question
What is the relationship between sleep parameters like wake after onset of sleep, sleep onset
latency, total time of sleeping and the domains of cognition like attention, episodic memory,
processing memory and the global cognition?
Specific research question
What is the relationship between the specific and general elements of sleep and the specific and
global domains of cognition in older adults living in the community setting?
The targeted population
The targeted population will be community adults in Malta who are 60 years and older. It has
been reported that approximately half of the older population experience sleep problems which
are not linked to sleep-related problems.
Intervention
The study will come up with solutions of how to handle and clinically take care of older adults
living with dementia. Most of them have sleep disorders and cognition issues which the study
will address in my community (Vitaliano, Murphy, Young, Echeverria & Borson, 2011).
Comparison intervention
The alternative to this study is to investigate the impact of dementia in older adults who are
below 60 years and who dependently live in the community.

RESEARCH PROPOSAL 3
Expected outcome
The expected outcome of the study will recommend to the caregivers how to take care of older
adults having dementia suffering from dementia.
Relevant area of nursing; sleep disorder and dementia
Key words;
Domains of cognition, sleep, cognition, dementia, global cognition, sleep latency, sleep
efficiency.
Title two: Non-pharma logical methods of taking care and managing aggressive patients
Research questions
What type of non-pharmacological methods are available for mental health professionals to
manage aggressive patients?
What are the experiences of patients on the non-pharmacological methods of dealing with
aggressiveness?
Targeted population
In mental health nursing and in nursing field, nurses have to take care of every human emotions
even in extreme emotions. The emotions of patients can change on a daily basis depending on
the condition of the patient and nurses have to confront the negative emotions in patients like
anger (Anderson and West, 2011). The targeted population is the patients with erratic and
unpredictable emotions especially the aggressive ones. Nurses will also form part of the sample
population.

RESEARCH PROPOSAL 4
Intervention of the study
The study will come up with non-pharmacological methods for dealing and handling aggressive
patients especially outbursts in the nursing homes or acute wards.
Comparison intervention
Study that will investigate the pharmacological methods for dealing with aggressive patients.
Expected outcome of the study
Non-pharmacological methods of handling patients identified and recommended to various
nursing homes.
Relevant area in nursing; mental health
Key words
Aggressive patients, pharmacological methods, pharmacological methods, aggressive behavior,
containment rates and safe-ward intervention.

RESEARCH PROPOSAL 5
References
Anderson, A. and West, S. G. (2011). Violence against mental health professionals: When the
treater becomes the victim. Innov Clin Neurosci. 2011;8(3):34–39.
Vitaliano, P. P., Murphy, M., Young, H. M., Echeverria, D., & Borson, S. (2011). Does Caring
for a Spouse with Dementia Promote Cognitive Decline? A Hypothesis and Proposed
Mechanisms. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 59(5), 900-908. doi:
10.1111/j.1532-5415.2011.03368.x.