Acupressure Intervention Program for Older Adults in Australian Residential Aged Care Facilities: A Qualitative Evaluation.

The current study explored participants' experiences and perceptions of receiving acupressure within an Australian aged care context. Participants were older adults living in three residential aged care facilities who had received an acupressure intervention. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed using a thematic approach. Twelve participants (10 females and two males) were interviewed. Four major themes emerged: Having Better Sleep, Feeling Calm and Relaxed, Promoting Well-Being and Functional Status, and Acceptability of Acupressure. Participants' perception of the acupressure was positive, as participants found acupressure to be beneficial for the improvement of sleep, mood, and general well-being. Participants' overall perception supports the acceptability of acupressure and suggests acupressure may be beneficial for improving sleep, relaxation, and well-being in older adults. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 50(1), 30-36.].

The Effect of Acupressure on Sleep Quality of Older People in Australian Residential Aged Care Facilities: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

This study investigated the effects of acupressure on sleep quality, anxiety, depression, and quality of life among older people in Australia. Acupressure improved overall subjective sleep quality and anxiety but no differences in depression and quality of life. Future studies with larger sample sizes are required to generate good evidence.

Older people's perspectives on use of complementary and alternative medicine and acupressure: A qualitative study.

OBJECTIVE: This study explored older people's knowledge, experience and perception of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and acupressure, and their willingness to accept acupressure. METHOD: This qualitative descriptive study, using semi-structured interviews, was conducted at two residential aged care facilities. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. RESULTS: Fifteen older people participated. Participants had limited knowledge about CAM and acupressure. Many of them had positive views on CAM, and were willing to accept acupressure. There were five major themes: knowledge and understanding about CAM, experience of using CAM, general views on use of CAM, reasons for not using CAM, and willingness to accept acupressure. CONCLUSION: The findings show the diverse views on CAM and acupressure from the perspectives of the older people in this study. There is a need for further research investigating the usefulness of CAM and acupressure in aged care settings.

Acupressure to improve sleep quality of older people in residential aged care: a randomised controlled trial protocol.

BACKGROUND: Sleep disturbance in older people is an important health issue that is associated with many other health problems. Effective interventions are required to address sleep problems in this group. Acupressure has been suggested as a potential therapeutic technique to improve sleep. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of an acupressure intervention on sleep quality, anxiety, depression, and quality of life among older persons in residential aged care facilities within an Australian context. METHODS/DESIGN: This is a randomised controlled trial with two parallel groups in a pre- and post-test study. Study participants will be older people living in residential aged care facilities. They will be assigned to intervention and control groups using computer-generated random numbers. The intervention group will receive 12-min acupressure three times per week for four consecutive weeks, applied on three acupoints: HT7, PC6, and SP6. The control group will receive only routine care. The primary outcome measure is sleep quality, and secondary outcomes include anxiety, depression, and quality of life. Data will be collected before the intervention, immediately after the end of the intervention, and 2 weeks after the intervention. DISCUSSION: This study targets a poorly met healthcare need of older people who are experiencing sleep disturbance and its negative consequences. To the researchers' knowledge, this is the first study evaluating acupressure in an Australian aged care context, using specific acupoints and a standardised acupressure protocol. If the results show positive outcomes, acupressure could be used to manage sleep disturbances for older people in the Australian context as well as in the global ageing population. This will contribute to reducing negative consequences of sleep disturbance and use of sleep medications. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12619000262101. Registered on 20 February 2019.

An integrative review of acupressure interventions for older people: A focus on sleep quality, depression, anxiety, and agitation.

OBJECTIVES: This integrative review aimed to synthesize studies that investigated the effects of acupressure on sleep quality, depression, anxiety, and agitation in older people, and to describe the acupressure procedures and techniques applied in the included studies. METHODS: A literature search was conducted using electronic databases including CINAHL, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and MEDLINE. The inclusion criteria for the review were studies examining the effect of acupressure in older people aged 60 years and above, measured the outcomes for sleep quality, depression, anxiety or agitation, applied body acupressure, and published in English language. The exclusion criteria were studies using auricular acupoints only, and articles published in any language other than English. Methodological quality of studies was assessed using the critical appraised tools developed by the Joanna Briggs Institute. The information about study design, findings, and description of acupressure intervention were extracted, summarized, and synthesized. RESULTS: A total of 255 articles were identified from the search and as well one article from cross-references. From there, a total of 19 studies were included in this review. Nine studies consistently showed positive effects of acupressure on sleep quality, and four studies consistently showed that acupressure reduced depression. The outcomes of acupressure on anxiety and agitation showed inconsistent findings, in which three studies measured anxiety and five studies measured agitation. There was also variation of acupressure techniques applied in the reviewed studies. CONCLUSION: This review found some emerging evidences that acupressure can be beneficial for older people who suffer from sleep problems and depression. Use of specific acupressure points, with standardized acupressure treatment protocols, may improve sleep quality and possibly psychological wellbeing of older people. Future research with well-designed mixed method studies are required to produce stronger evidence, as well as in-depth understanding of acupressure intervention in aged care context.