Daily life and sleep in couples living with early-stage dementia
Official title: Daily Experiences Among Couples Living With Early-Stage Dementia: Implications for Daily Sleep and Long-Term Well-Being and Cognitive Function
Funded at University of Michigan at Ann Arbor · NIH-11017074 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at how daily stress and good moments affect sleep, mood, and memory in couples where one partner has early-stage dementia.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Michigan at Ann Arbor NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Ann Arbor, United States) |
| Project start | May 15, 2023 |
| Project end | January 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $724,363 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AG082025-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11017074 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are married or cohabiting couples aged 60 or older in which one partner has early-stage Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia and both can complete brief interviews, wear a sleep tracker, and use a smartphone for daily surveys.
✕Less likely to help
People with advanced dementia, those not living with a partner, or couples unable or unwilling to travel for in-person testing, use a smartphone, or wear a sleep device are unlikely to benefit from participating.
What this research studies
If you join, both you and your partner will take part in an hour-long phone interview and in-person memory testing at the start. Then for seven days you will each answer brief smartphone surveys five times a day about stress and positive experiences while wearing a sleep tracker overnight. The study will enroll 150 married or cohabiting couples aged 60 and older where one partner has early-stage Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia. Researchers will use the daily reports and sleep data to see how each partner’s day-to-day experiences relate to sleep and longer-term well-being and cognitive changes.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to better sleep and emotional-support strategies for couples living with early-stage dementia to help preserve well-being and thinking skills.
How similar studies have gone: Prior studies have linked sleep problems to worse mood and cognitive decline in dementia, but combining daily smartphone surveys with wearable sleep tracking in both partners is a newer approach.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Polenick, Courtney a. — University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
- Study coordinator: Polenick, Courtney a.
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Exploring daily experiences of couples dealing with early-stage dementia and their impact on sleep and well-being.
This study is looking at how daily stress and happy moments impact sleep and well-being in couples where one person has early-stage dementia, and it’s designed for couples aged 60 and older to help improve care for both partners.
-
Long-term Effects of a Natural Disaster on Cognitive Aging and Dementia in Older Adults
This project follows older adults affected by a major natural disaster to understand how long-term stress may influence aging, memory, and risk for dementia.
-
Activities4Care: a digital assistive platform to boost well-being for people with dementia and their caregivers
A new digital platform will provide personalized, meaningful activities for people living with dementia to improve mood, behavior, and quality of life, with guidance for caregivers.
-
Cognitive Function and Dementia in South Africa: A Longitudinal Study
A long-term study in South Africa aims to understand how dementia develops and affects people as they age, using harmonized surveys and biomarkers so findings can help people in similar settings.
-
Personalized diets based on gut microbes to help prevent Alzheimer's
Seeing if tailoring healthy diets to a person's gut microbes can help protect thinking and memory in older adults at risk for Alzheimer's.
-
Long-term effects of a natural disaster on aging, cognition, and well-being in older adults
This project follows older adults affected by a large tsunami to understand how disaster stress might influence memory, thinking skills, health, and well-being many years later.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.