Online Fatigue Management Tracker Website

 

The online fatigue management tracker website allows participants the ability to track their sleep patterns and progress as well as set specific goals.  The website also provides comparisons between the relationships of specific behaviors, such as physical activity, and sleep to illustrate the relationship between sleep and other modifiable health risk factors.  The information is presented in a visual graphic to the participant.  Lastly, there is an educational component to provide information regarding general recommendations for getting good rest, sleeping and shift work, sleeping disorders, and health practices that can improve sleep or help eliminate sleep difficulty.  Components of the fatigue management tracker are outlined below:

 

• Site Introduction – The fatigue tracker web site home page contains a brief introduction and description of the fatigue tracker site and its capabilities.

 

• Information Gathering – This is the place on the site that gathers information from the participant regarding personal health status and behaviors related to sleep and associated topics such as weight management/BMI, physical activity, nutrition, tobacco use, and alcohol use.  This information is gathered to help participants see the relationship between sleep and other health. Individuals indicating they suffer from sleep difficulty receive follow-up questions regarding potential sleep disorders.

 

• Personal Sleep Profile – Once a user completes the initial question set they are directed to their sleep profile. The sleep profile is tailored feedback related to fatigue and is provided based on how the user responded to the items of the question set. 

 

• Personal Goals – The Personal Sleep Profile contains goals, specific to the responses to the initial questions set, to reduce or eliminate negative health behaviors and/or negative fatigue coping habits that can disrupt sleep. For example, if an individual indicates they drink alcohol or caffeinated beverages prior to bedtime, they are given a goal of eliminating consumption of those beverages prior to bedtime.

 

• Tracking Tools – Another part of the Personal Sleep Profile are the tracking tools available to participants. These tools allow them to enter information and follow their progress over time.  For example, a user has the ability to enter the number of hours they slept each day. The participant is able to see a chart that graphs their sleep hours, and view a running 7-day sleep average. Other tracking tools include BMI, alcohol consumption prior to sleep time, caffeine consumption prior to sleep time, daily tobacco use, and minutes of physical activity completed daily. The user has the option to compare graphs of specific behaviors with their sleep chart to see if there is a relationship with a specific behavior and their sleep. For example, if a user indicates their physical activity is gradually increasing, and their number of sleep hours are also increasing they can visually consider the possibility that a positive change in their health may be resulting in more sleep.

 

• Education – Users have access to links that can direct them pages with education on general recommendations for getting good rest, sleeping and shift work, sleeping disorders, and health practices that can improve sleep or help eliminate sleep difficulty. The majority of this information is taken from the Dealing with Life Challenges: Fatigue Management, Stress, and Mental Health book that was discussed above.

 

• Data Reporting – The trackers site is programmed to provide the number of participants accessing the tracker weekly and monthly, and also the average hours of sleep per day, per user, over time.  This will allows employers to track whether users are making progress with their fatigue management.