Effect of Benson s Relaxation Technique on Psychological Distress and Sleep Quality among Elderly

Aims: This study aimed to assess the impact of Benson’s Relaxation Technique on psychological distress and sleep quality among older people during COVID 19 pandemic. Methods: A quasi-experimental research design was used. To achieve the aim of this study, 95 elders were recruited randomly as follows; 50 from the Geriatric social club in Zagazig City, 20 from El-Resala geriatric house in Zagazig City, and 25 from geriatric home in Met Ghamr City. Three tools were utilized for data collection, namely, the Interview questionnaire sheet, Depression Anxiety Stress Scales for measuring depression, anxiety as well as stress, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index for measuring sleep quality. By SPSS 20.0 and using Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Chi-square test, and Spearman correlation coefficient all data were analyzed. Findings: More than three-quarters of the participants had chronic diseases. The majority had unsatisfactory knowledge about Benson’s Relaxation Technique during the pre-intervention phase. Two-thirds of elders had severe depression levels; slightly less than two-thirds had severe anxiety, and about three-quarters had severe stress in the pre-intervention phase with a statistically significant reduction post-intervention phase. The majority had poor sleep quality (97.9%) in the pre-intervention phase, which decreased in the post-intervention phase to 50.5%. Conclusion: This study concluded that Benson’s Relaxation Technique has a great effect on psychological distress and sleep quality of elderly people. Gero-psychiatric nurses should encourage elderly people to apply BRT to the enhancement of their psychological well-being.