Addressing benzodiazepine dependence: The Better Sleep Program

Background: Most primary consultations for sleep problems involve benzodiazepine prescriptions, despite risks of long-term use. Optimising a sleep education intervention could be a practical and cost-effective alternative.

Aim: Explore the feasibility of a single-session telehealth sleep intervention.

Design and Setting: Single arm trial of 655 community-dwelling adults with self-identified sleep problems.

Method: Feasibility was evaluated through acceptability feedback, and preliminary effectiveness outcomes: insomnia severity, dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep, and sleep self-efficacy. Participants completed surveys at baseline and 4-weeks post-intervention.

Results: Participants found the intervention highly acceptable (≥ 90%). There were significant improvements in all outcomes.

Conclusions: A brief telehealth sleep education intervention could be a feasible alternative to prescribing benzodiazepines.

Erin Oldenhof | Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Counsellor and Research & Innovation Lead, Reconnexion 

Erin is a psychologist who works at Reconnexion to support individuals to safely stop their sleeping pills. She supported the development of Reconnexion’s Better Sleep Program, a stepped-care treatment for insomnia aiming to address the overreliance on medication. Her research focuses on supporting primary care providers (e.g., GPs) to deprescribe benzodiazepines.

Credited Persons

Jamie Byrne | School of Psychology Lecturer, Deakin University

The … stream is sponsored by