Digital Technology for Sleep and Homelessness

In Canada, 35,000 people are experiencing homelessness on any night. Compared to the general population, people experiencing homelessness (PEH) sleep less and experience increased daytime fatigue. A common sleep disorder and treatable cause of morbidity and low quality of life is sleep apnea. High prevalence of chronic comorbid disorders of sleep apnea in PEH suggest high prevalence of sleep apnea, but the rate of sleep apnea treatment in PEH is very low. Also, in PEH, individual and systemic barriers lead to a high rate of underdiagnosed and untreated sleep apnea. Mortality is higher in PEH than the general population, and sleep apnea remains a potential silent cause of morbidity and low quality of life in PEH. Our goal is to diagnose and treat sleep apnea in people living in shelters and to examine the effect of patient-centered treatment on their quality of life.