Everyone deserves a good night’s sleep including the elderly. This may seem obvious but for many years some people such as health care providers seemed to believe that the elderly only needed a few hours sleep each night. However, new sleep studies have determined otherwise. They have determined that as a person gets older the requirement for a good night’s sleep doesn’t change, but the elderly have a more difficult time getting it. The elderly have numerous difficulties getting a good night’s sleep for reasons that include: Sleeping partners are affected by such factors as restlessness and each other’ snoring; difficulties with Alzheimer’s, anxiety, and depression; health conditions including heart trouble, allergies, asthma, arthritis pain, and menopause, and; some dosages of medications.