Sleep problems are often a key issue in older people. They include waking up at night, waking up early, difficulty with falling asleep, and lead to more daylight sleep, less sleep efficiency, daytime drowsiness, altered quality of life, higher cognitive and memory dysfunction and even increased risk of falls and injuries. Some studies have highlighted long-term effects and correlations with heart disease, obesity or diabetes.

It is recommended to treat sleep issues at first with non-pharmacological approaches. Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) are therefore regularly studied in literature as they providing an alternative way to influence bodily functions. Body-mind techniques have specially showed good results on psychological wellbeing, sleep quality, depressive symptoms and quality of life while being cost-effective and safe.

The present study assessed the effectiveness of a combination of CAM – i.e. deep breathing exercices and body scan meditation combined with music (DBM) – on the quality of sleep and quality of life of older people suffering from poor sleep quality. This approach showed positive effects on both outcome measures when practiced on a daily basis.