A Randomized Controlled Trial Testing the Effect of Mindfulness Practices Versus Sleep Education on Sleep and Inflammation Among Older Adults With Sleep Problems

The MAPs program is based on experiential training in mindfulness meditation offered at the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center (MARC). A certified UCLA instructor will provide didactic training in mindfulness meditation in a group-based setting. Participants will be guided through in-class meditation practices and will be assigned daily meditation homework. Active program components include sitting and walking somatosensory-focused meditation, audio-guided body scan meditation, and loving kindness meditation. Participants will attend weekly 2-hour classes for a total of 6 weeks and participants will monitor their sleep with a daily sleep diary. In addition to the MAPs training, sleep hygiene material will also be presented to match the sleep hygiene material in the sleep education condition.

The sleep education condition is founded on knowledge acquisition. In the sleep seminar condition, a trained health educator will provide didactic presentations on sleep, sleep hygiene, sleep problems, and potential solutions to sleep problems in a group-based setting. Active components of sleep education include increasing knowledge of sleep biology, identifying characteristics of healthy and unhealthy sleep, sleep problems, and self-monitoring of sleep behavior. Participants attend weekly 2-hour classes for a total of 6 weeks and participants will monitor their sleep with a daily sleep diary. The health education condition is comparable to MAPs in terms of time, attention, group support, and participant expectancy of a benefit in sleep parameters.