Program will use activity trackers to improve patients` sleep

Canaan, Conn.-based Mountainside Treatment Center has begun using wearable activity trackers to help some of its addiction treatment patients who struggle with sleep difficulties during treatment.

The facility this week announced that it has launched a Fitbit program in which the wearable devices will be used to monitor patients' sleep-wake cycle and inform potentially helpful short-term interventions. “Based on the data received from the Fitbit devices, our clinicians are then able to propose various interventions to help reduce insomnia,” Mountainside program development coordinator Marie Lanier said in an Aug. 26 news release. “A few recommended interventions include yoga, meditation, acupuncture, and breathing work.”

All patients at Mountainside will have the option of receiving one of the activity trackers, according to Lanier. Mountainside officials state that this effort coordinates with other healthy-living emphases in the organization, including several nutrition-focused activities. One such activity is called “Kneading Recovery,” in which patients with depression meet weekly in a therapeutic bread-making group.