Occupational therapy and sleep management: Advantages of telehealth services during COVID-19

Sleep is a vital component of overall health and well-being. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a third of the United States adult population does not receive the recommended amount of sleep. Lack of sleep adversely affects mental and physical health. Poor sleep has been linked to chronic conditions in adults such as heart disease, obesity, depression, and Type 2 diabetes (CDC, 2022). Various factors can affect sleep, such as pain, stress, anxiety, medical conditions, and the environment. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated stress and anxiety due to uncertainty about the future, financial concerns, job insecurity, and social isolation. In addition, there were changes to routines, including waking time, eating, exercising, and going to bed. All these factors contributed to an increased incidence of sleep disturbance for people living through the social effects of the pandemic even if they were not directly infected by the virus (Morin et al., 2020).