Better Sleep for the Elderly

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Recommended: Effects of sleep on memory

The elderly population has been increasing over the past decade and now with the baby boomers entering into this population it only applies more pressure to an ever increasing dilemma on how to improve their health. Sleep is essential to a person’s well being and cognitive function. Research studies have shown that there is significant decline in a person’s cognitive function when they do not receive an adequate night’s sleep. The secret to aging healthfully is getting enough sleep to allow the body to heal and rejuvenate from the day’s experiences and traumas. This paper is a review of the literature in response to sleep and its effects on cognitive function in the elderly population with a brief discussion on nursing implications.

Sleep is defined according to Bombois et al, 2010 as a “psychological process characterized by several cycles of different sleep states within a twenty-four hour period.”( Bombois et al, 2010) The article describes that people with these disturbances are at an increase risk for “mortality, cardiovascular changes and neurobehavioral co-morbities as well.” This article describes dementia patients and also lists the different reasons elderly people may have that cause sleep disturbances.

The cyclical process of sleep is moving through four phases, according to Hall, 1998 Rapid Eye Movement (REM) being the most important of these. A person enters REM sleep every ninety to one hundred twenty minutes in their sleeping cycle depending on what article one may read. REM is where the brain processes the day’s events and the body heals. Interestingly this is also where the skeletal muscles of the body become paralyzed and the only functioning muscle is the pharyngeal ones holding the airway open. “A perso...

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...ation: A cross sectional study in 2947 community dwelling older adults. American Aging Association. Retrieved from http://www.springerlink.com.ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/content/p87v1v3304253172/fulltext.pdf

Vance, D., Eagerton, G., Harnish, b., McKie, P., & Fazeli, P. (2011). Cognitive prescriptions: A Nursing approach to increasing cognitive reserve. Journal of Gerontological Nursing. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/docview/859768514/fulltextPDF?accountid=10559#

Yaffe, K., Laffan, A., Stephanie Litwack Harrison, Redline, S., Ensrud, K., Sonia Ancoli Israel, & Stone, K. (2011, August 10). Sleep-Disordered Breathing, Hypoxia, and Risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia in Older Women (Vol 306, No. 6 ed., pp. 613-619). JAMA. Retrieved from http://jama.ama-assn.org.ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/content/306/6/613.full.pdf

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