Sleep should play an important part in the care of clients, but, according to researchers, healthcare professionals have yet to fully recognise this. Paul Dinsdale reports

Difficulty in sleeping can be a serious problem for people with learning disabilities, reducing their quality of life and increasing the incidence of challenging behaviour. Research into sleep has focused on the importance of circadian rhythms in the body and highlighted the need for a good sleep routine to be integrated into clients’ care plans. Non-pharmacological therapies, such as relaxation and cognitive behaviour therapy, have proved to be more effective than medication for long-term treatment of insomnia.