Age, ageing and changes in sleep

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Retirement and current employment >> Retirement and current employment

Retirement and current employment

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Daytime sleep >> Daytime sleep

Daytime sleep

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Impact on daily routines >> Impact on daily routines

Impact on daily routines

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Attitude to sleep >> Attitude to sleep

Attitude to sleep

Mike works part-time as a test centre administrator. He has noticed a change in his sleep as he has got older, noticeably that he has periods of deeper sleep, but he doesn’t believe he sleeps any longer than he used to. Mike noticed his sleep changed when he first had children, and finds that pattern has continued.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Juliet - Interview 07 >> Juliet was loath to nap during the day, as suggested by her physiotherapist, because she didn’t want to be in a daily set routine.

In addition to her formal career, Juliet has had a range of voluntary jobs such as Chairman of the Preschool Playgroup Association. Juliet was also employed as an Ofsted Lay School Inspector. Juliet is an avid silver surfer and thoroughly enjoys online shopping and writing emails. She has had rheumatoid arthritis for about 15 years and has also been diagnosed with diabetes, both of which interfere with her sleep.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 65-74 >> Ronald - Interview 01 >> Ronald sees falling asleep in the evening in front of the television as natural, but would be concerned if he started napping during the day.

Ronald finds he usually gets about 6 ½ to 7 hours sleep a night, but this is disturbed by having to get up and go to the toilet. Although he usually drops off to sleep straight away, occasionally he finds he can’t get to sleep, or wakes up in the night and can’t get back to sleep, so on these occasions he tries counting sheep, but this doesn’t always work. Ronald noticed a change in his sleep pattern when he took early retirement because of health problems, and the change in his daily routine.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Mary - Interview 05 >> Falling asleep during the day makes Mary cross, especially as she has so many things to do.

Mary is a retired Secretary and travel organiser. She lives on her own, but has a daughter and grandchildren living nearby. Mary likes to keep very active during the day and helps with looking after the grandchildren. She also attends Keep Fit and Tai Chi and likes to sew and do crafts. Mary believes sleep is very important and would like to have more sleep, but also feels that she doesn’t want to waste time sleeping as there are so many things she enjoys doing.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 65-74 >> Peter - Interview 19 >> Peter feels his sleep will gradually change as he got older, but thinks that’s a normal part of ageing.

Peter sometimes finds it difficult to get to sleep and stay asleep because of a shoulder injury and lower back pain. He only very occasionally dozes off during the day, but sometimes might if he has been active, or has gone for a long run. Peter feels that there are times in his life when he has more to worry about, and this will most likely affect how he sleeps.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 65-74 >> John - Interview 15 >> John would rather not sleep during the evening as it might interfere with his sleep at night.

John feels that a good night’s sleep for him would be about 7 hours, and the amount of sleep he gets is important to him, even if it is interrupted. Currently John feels he only gets about 5 ½ to 6 hours sleep and would like to get more, but would not seek help from his doctor until he felt lack of sleep impacted on whether he could drive safely. John tries to avoid sleeping during the day because he feels it will impact on how well he sleeps at night.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Jacqui - Interview 35 >> Jacqui finds that she gets more tired when she works now than she used to when she was younger.

Jacqui lives with her partner and works part-time as a care worker. She slept well as a child, but noticed a dramatic change in her sleep when she became a stewardess, and when she got married. She believes the different shifts she worked and jet lag caused a change in her sleeping pattern. Eventually she went to the doctor for some mild sleeping tablets, which she took occasionally over the years. Currently Jacqui is sleeping much better and has not taken any sleeping tablets for a few years.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 75+ >> William - Interview 38 >> William can fall asleep after his breakfast, especially if he has been for an early morning swim.

William lives with his partner and has been retired for about 14 years. He likes to keep active by swimming four days a week and going to a gym class one day a week. He also attends art classes and is a member of a local literature club. William has noticed a change in his sleep over the last couple of years in that he finds he is having very vivid and sometimes difficult dreams. He notices he also has to get up now in the night because of cramp or to go to the toilet, which he never used to do.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 75+ >> Robert - Interview 06 >> Robert used to sleep during the day to cope with a lack of sleep at night whilst caring for his wife who had a terminal illness.

At the time of his interview Robert had recently lost his wife and was still trying to cope with the aftermath of her illness and his subsequent bereavement. Robert has found that he wakes up quite a lot in the night and hopes that, with time, his sleep pattern will settle back into the routine he had before his wife was ill. Robert likes to keep very active and enjoys engineering problems and making things. He has recently started to cycle again.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Margaret - Interview 32 >> Margaret feels guilty about having a sleep during the day, but is aware that she as she gets older, she feels better for it and is able to do the thin

Margaret is a retired Day Centre Manager and formerly a social worker. She spent long periods of her childhood in hospital where part of the routine was to put children outside in the fresh air. Margaret believes this still influences her now as she likes to wake up to daylight in her room. Margaret noticed her sleep started to worsen about 10-15 years ago, and used to worry about not having enough sleep, but has now found a way to cope and feels content with the amount of sleep she gets.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Juliet - Interview 07 >> Juliet describes how her physiotherapist suggested she take a nap in the afternoon to help her cope with her health problems.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 75+ >> P. - Interview 16 >> After a bad night, P. is aware that he feels a bit jet-lagged the next day, and may unknowingly drop off to sleep in the afternoon.

P. has been retired for 35 years but still continues to undertake research and has published more than 30 papers since his retirement. He likes to try and be active as much as he can during the day and doesn’t like to doze off in the evening because he feels that is a waste of time. He does sometimes have difficulty getting off to sleep, but finds that reading a book often helps with this.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 65-74 >> Fred - Interview 20 >> Fred would definitely not go to bed any earlier if he slept badly the night before, but he may fall asleep during the day for a short while.

Fred often finds it difficult to get to sleep. He also finds that if he wakes up in the night he finds it takes a long time to get back to sleep. Sometimes he comes downstairs and has a cigarette in the back garden before trying to go back up and get to sleep. Fred noticed his sleep changed after he retired and feels this may be because he isn’t quite as active.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 65-74 >> John - Interview 15 >> If John has a bad night he tries to keep going all day, despite feeling a big jet-lagged, otherwise he feels a nap might affect how he sleeps at night

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 65-74 >> Fred - Interview 20 >> Fred doesn’t have strong feelings about how important sleep is because he feels he has got used to not sleeping well, and can always have a nap in the

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