21 custom-designed Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) lights have been funded for the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in Bristol Royal Infirmary.

Long stays in the ICU and a lack of natural light can cause sleep disruption and delirium in critical care patients, leading to a prolonged period in hospital. Lumie’s SAD lights allow staff to regulate light for patients to help maintain normal day and night sleep patterns.

The ICU has worked closely with the manufacturer Lumie to create a light that has been customised for the hospital environment. This means that it can be cleaned to the correct standards, secured to a drip stand and it has an extended cable so it can be moved around the bed space to suit the needs of individual patients.

Light therapy is commonly used to treat symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder or the ‘winter blues’. Light boxes can help boost energy levels and make individuals feel more awake during the day when they are required to take part in vital rehabilitation.

- Sam Heaton, Practice Educator and Senior Staff Nurse, ICU

The ICU team is now able to provide light therapy to all 21 patients on the ward and is leading nationally on delirium prevention and sleep hygiene in hospitals.

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