Co-creation of a Sleep Toolkit
Good quality sleep is critical for physical and psychological health. Research shows that sleep deprivation is associated with poorer cognitive function and academic outcomes in students, yet many experience sleep difficulties. Recognising this challenge, an interdisciplinary team led by Dr Anna Joyce and Celeste Williams from Regent’s University London developed an innovative and creative solution: a co-created Sleep Toolkit, designed with, and for, students.
The project was funded by Regent’s University London’s Vice-Chancellor's (VC) Fund, which aims to develop innovation and excellence in Learning and Teaching through Research and Scholarship. This made it possible to involve students in this interdisciplinary and collaborative initiative, and ensure that the toolkit would be engaging and supportive for them.
The team
Dr Anna Joyce, academic within Psychology and a sleep therapist specialising in cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) and nightmares (CBT-N), co-led the project – this meant providing all sleep information, including drafting the toolkit text, and supporting creative workshops. She is also leading research to assess efficacy and impact of the toolkit.
Celeste Williams, Regent’s Design Technician, co-led the project, leading the creative workshops, collating all design materials, and creating and formatting the final toolkit for production according to student requirements.
Martin Vazquez, Brand Design Lead, created graphics, oversaw branding of the toolkit, and arranged production specifications.
Stephanie Murphy, Head of Student Experience & Wellbeing, reviewed materials and is supporting delivery of the toolkit to students with sleep problems.
Emma Bourgeois, Research Assistant, supported delivery of workshops, data collection and collation.
Dr Liz Halstead, Academic at UCL and expert in CBT-I, reviewed the toolkit text and provided research expertise and additional text. This collaboration enhanced the rigour of the sleep information and broadens the reach of the project to supporting students at UCL with sleep.
Kerry Eggleton, Artist, was appointed to illustrate the toolkit according to the student requirements and style preferences. Her expertise as a creative in digital art and mixed media meant she was able to combine the broad range of student ideas into a coherent style, perfectly suited to the project.
The project
Regent’s students who experienced trouble sleeping were invited to take part in the project. Across three groups, 16 students participated in a three-hour creative ‘thinking-through-making' session where they reviewed information about sleep and created their own zine – a DIY magazine folded from one sheet of paper. Here, they were used to guide the creative process.
Without being prescriptive, students were encouraged to create a zine that was meaningful to them, using a range of craft and collage materials to explore their thoughts about sleep through words, images, and patterns. As a prompt, they were provided with written information about sleep and strategies, and Dr Joyce discussed relevant strategies with each student through the lens of her expertise as a Sleep Therapist. After the workshops, the students’ sleep zines were scanned and reviewed by the team.
A month later, students took part in a follow-up two-hour workshop to review prototype materials, discuss and provide feedback on style, formatting, and their requirements. Between workshops they also had the opportunity to review all text information. A colour palette was decided by selecting the top three colours from each zine, from which students chose their preferred colours for the final toolkit. They discussed and reviewed various illustration styles, and an illustrator was sought to meet their design specifications.
The students’ zines were reviewed for recurring themes, which were incorporated into the final designs. These included dreamy landscapes, moons, stars, eyes, clocks, and circles, as well as textures, patterns, outlines and silhouettes. Images were created digitally by the illustrator, Kerry Eggleton, then printed and hand rendered over the initial design with mixed media (oil pastels, pencils, paint, chalk pastels, pens) to represent the mixed textures used by students in their zines.
It was important to students to have a product small enough to travel with, space to write in to record their sleep habits and progress, and that looked and felt appealing to use. They also appreciated information on the science behind the strategies rather than just being told what to do. They chose for information to be presented concisely on cards because they do a lot of reading for their studies, and didn’t want it to feel like a text book – it was important to bring the toolkit to life in a way that felt fresh and engaging.
The final toolkit is a set of 45 tarot-size activity cards and an A5 journal, neatly held in a presentation box, all beautifully illustrated by artist Kerry Eggleton. The cards summarise information about different sleep strategies and why they work, colour coded for daytime, evening and nighttime. The journal contains information about sleep, and space to record sleep, track habits, and complete written activities and reflections. The strategies are based on cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia, which includes healthy sleep habits and tools for dealing with anxiety, worries, unhelpful thoughts, and a racing mind. It is intended for those aged over 18 who are experiencing sleep problems.
Where to find it
For Regent’s students who experience sleep problems, 200 copies are available to collect from the ASK Centre.
For UCL students with sleep problems, 50 copies will be available to collect from Dr Liz Halstead.
Digital resources are available to download and print here:
Let us know whether the toolkit helps
The creators are interested in finding out your thoughts on the toolkit, and whether using it results in any changes in sleep, mental health, or attendance.
If you choose to take part, you will be asked to complete a questionnaire about your sleep and mental health before you start using the toolkit, and again after around 6-8 weeks, along with some questions about how you found using it. The survey will take around 10-15 minutes to complete, and has been approved by Regent’s University London Research Ethics Committee.
For more information and to take part, please visit this short form.
If you have questions about the research, please contact Stephanie Murphy via [email protected].