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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Sleep Sci 2017; 10(04): 174-180
DOI: 10.5935/1984-0063.20170030
THEORETICAL ASSAYS

Women’s Sleep Disorders: Integrative Care

Cristina Frange
1   Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Departament Psychobiology - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
,
Carolina Vicente Banzoli
1   Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Departament Psychobiology - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
,
Ana Elisa Colombo
2   Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Department Gynecology - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
,
Marcele Siegler
1   Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Departament Psychobiology - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
,
Glaury Coelho
1   Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Departament Psychobiology - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
,
Andréia Gomes Bezerra
1   Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Departament Psychobiology - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
,
Marcelo Csermak
1   Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Departament Psychobiology - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
,
Maria Fernanda Naufel
3   Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Departament Nutrition - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
,
Cristiana Cesar-Netto
1   Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Departament Psychobiology - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
,
Monica Levy Andersen
1   Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Departament Psychobiology - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
,
Manoel João Batista Castelo Girão
2   Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Department Gynecology - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
,
Sergio Tufik
1   Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Departament Psychobiology - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
,
Helena Hachul
1   Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Departament Psychobiology - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
2   Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Department Gynecology - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
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The integrative care model is rooted in a biopsychosocial approach. Integrative is a term which refers to increasing the harmony and coherence of your whole being, and integrative care is therefore focused on the person, not on either the disease or a therapy. It is provided collaboratively by a health team comprising physicians, psychologists, physiotherapists, acupuncturists, and meditation, nutrition, and floral therapy. Previous studies have demonstrated that interventions based on the integrative care model improved womens lifestyle and quality of life. Our aim was to describe the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) alongside traditional medicine among women with sleep conditions in our Womens Sleep Disorders Integrative Treatment Outpatient Clinic. We are sharing our experiences and clinical practice as the model we developed seems to have both physical and psychological benefits for women with sleep problems. We discuss the wide range of benefits that result from this type of complex intervention, and the contextual factors that may influence these benefits. This will inform future practitioners and we hope to contribute to quantitative research in the clinical setting. The study highlights the importance of treating sleep complaints with a caring relationship and a CAM approach, alongside conventional medicine. Exploration of the lived experience of CAM and its meaning enables healthcare professionals to gain insights into the patients needs, preferences, and values. Gynecologists, clinicians, and health care providers should support and guide patients in their decision to use CAM by providing evidence-based and comprehensive advice on the potential benefits, risks and related safety issues of this approach.

Sleep - Complementary Therapies - Sleep Disorders - Intrinsic - Women’s Health


Publication History

Received: 25 April 2017

Accepted: 22 September 2017

Article published online:
11 October 2023

© 2023. Brazilian Sleep Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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