Using alternative therapies in treating sleep disturbance

Sleep disturbance is a common health problem among adults, and enhancing sleep quality is an issue of significant importance to healthcare providers. As sleep quality worsens into insomnia, individuals may seek assistance from medication. However, sedative hypnotic drugs pose potentially adverse effects. Also, most medical treatments (e.g., positive pressure assistant ventilators) represent invasive interventions that must be prescribed by physicians. Non-pharmacological alternative therapies are commonly recommended and adopted by community nurses. Alternative therapies for sleep disturbance included exercise, cognitive behavior therapy, multiple strategies, music, and acupressure. In general, moderately intensive walking exercise is the intervention most recommended by professionals to help patients deal with sleep disturbance. Therefore, it is suggested that future researchers devise sleep quality promotion strategies that are suitable for home practice in order to apply the findings and spirit of research already done in this area.