According to an aspect, there is provided an apparatus (10) to control a sleep assistance device (30) for alleviating a user's pain during sleep. The apparatus (10) comprises: a receiver (11) configured to receive sensor data (14) associated with the user; a processor (12) configured to analyze the sensor data (14) to predict a pain measure of the user, and to generate a control signal (15) for the sleep assistance device (30) in accordance with the predicted pain measure; and a transmitter (13) configured to transmit the control signal (15) to the sleep assistance device (30) for alleviating pain.