Tips for a Better Sleep for the Elderly

The elderly need the same amount of sleep as children and adults, in general, from 7 to 8 hours, but about 30% of the elderly get less than 7 hours of sleep per day, and about 20% have frequent insomnia or poor quality of sleep, according to a study. Conducted 2022 Published in BMC Public Health.

In this report, we offer you a set of tips that help you sleep or may help you organize the lives of the elderly around you.

Older adults tend to have less deep sleep (so-called non-REM sleep), and as you get older, you find that you wake up more to things that wouldn’t have bothered you before, says Ronald Chervin, chair of the department of sleep medicine at the University of Michigan.

The director of the sleep department at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, notes that those who exercise in the evening sleep better than those who exercise in the morning, and while he advises young people to avoid screens and tablets, he does the opposite with the elderly, so that they then get enough sleep. .

Tips to help sleep

1- Enough sleep

You should strive to get enough sleep, as spending a long time in bed can lead to anxiety and other sleep difficulties.

2- Counting sleep times

Are you unsure of how much time to spend in bed or how much sleep you are actually getting? It can be helpful to keep track of this with an app or with paper and adjust your schedule accordingly.

3- Spend less time in bed

If you are up an hour or so each night, this is often a sign that you should spend an hour less in bed each night.

4- Go back to sleep

If you can’t fall asleep (or get back to sleep) in about 20 minutes, get up and go to another room to read or do something else relaxing until you’re sleepy again.

5- Strategically nap

If you love to nap during the day, go for it. Contrary to popular belief, napping won’t disturb your sleep at night.

And keeping your snooze to an hour or less in the afternoon may also provide benefits for the brain.

And a study of 2,200 adults ages 60 and older published in the Journal of General Psychiatry in 2021 found that those who nap for 30 minutes or fewer four times a week scored higher on cognitive tests than those who didn’t.

6-Focus on an integrated diet

A range of studies show that avoiding processed foods and eating a diet rich in produce, nuts, beans, and lean protein are heart-healthy.

And this eating pattern appears to be good for sleep, too, according to a study of postmenopausal women published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2020.

When do you see your doctor?

It’s a good idea to tell your doctor about any sleep problems that interfere with your daily life, but it’s important to determine if you have chronic insomnia, or sleep problems at least three nights a week for more than three months.

The cause may be a medical problem that your doctor can help you with, such as an enlarged prostate or arthritis pain. But if the exam doesn’t reveal an obvious cause, ask to see a sleep specialist to check for a sleep disorder, such as restless leg syndrome or obstructive sleep apnea.