Online Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Platform Shows Promise for Treating Insomnia and Anxiety in Older Adults
Studies and clinical trials indicate that psychological therapies are effective for adults over 65, yet only around 4% of older Americans access them compared to 12% of young adults. A new digital platform targeting both insomnia and anxiety in older adults has shown promise in a clinical trial, while broader research confirms therapy works across all adult age groups. The gap matters because roughly 14% of people over 70 live with a mental health disorder, and systemic barriers — including ageist assumptions and referral gaps — are leaving a large population underserved.
A growing body of evidence challenges the assumption that therapy is less effective or appropriate for older adults, with researchers finding no meaningful decline in therapeutic outcomes even among those over 75. Despite this, a 2024 study found only about 4% of US adults aged 65 and older received psychological therapy, compared with 12% of those aged 18–24. Barriers include financial constraints, inadequate insurance coverage, and a tendency among primary care physicians to refer older patients to psychological treatment less frequently — sometimes attributing their distress to normal ageing rather than treatable mental health conditions. Separately, researchers at the Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal developed a digital platform combining cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) with anxiety treatment, addressing the fact that the two conditions frequently co-occur in older adults but are rarely treated together. Evidence also suggests that group-based interventions may produce the strongest results for older people, and that once engaged, older adults often show higher therapy completion rates than younger cohorts — sometimes reaching 54%. Experts point to deeply entrenched ageist prejudices, partly rooted in Freudian-era assumptions about mental rigidity in later life, as a key driver of undertreatment. Clinicians and researchers argue that meaningful psychological change is possible throughout the lifespan.
What's missing
Neither source provides the full results or effect sizes from the CRIUGM digital platform trial, making it difficult to assess the magnitude of benefit. Long-term follow-up data on whether therapy gains are sustained in older adults are not discussed.
How coverage differed
The BBC piece takes a narrative, human-interest approach — centering personal testimonies and framing the issue as a societal and cultural failure to recognize older adults' capacity for change. Medical Xpress focuses more narrowly on a specific clinical trial and its technological innovation, presenting the issue in a research-outcome frame rather than a social-justice one.
What different sources said
- Medical XpressCenter
Online therapy cuts insomnia and anxiety in adults 65 and older, trial suggests
- BBC Top StoriesCenter
'I felt lighter, more open': Why you are never too old for therapy
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