CBT for Insomnia - Employers

Dr. Gregg D. Jacobs is an sleep specialist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, author of Say Good Night to Insomnia (New York: Henry Holt, 2009) and developer of an online video, DVD, and CD non-drug insomnia program that is being used by companies such as Ceridian and insurers such as Blue Cross and Blue Shield to improve sleep and reduce sleeping pill use in their members. This program, which is based on Dr. Jacobs’s research at Harvard Medical School that was funded by the National Institute of Health¹, will improve employees’ sleep and performance while decreasing the significant medical and absenteeism costs of insomnia.

Insomnia, which affects over half of all employees², is associated with reduced performance³, increased absenteeism ($1900 annually per employee with insomnia⁴) and frequent use of sleeping pill use (54 million prescriptions in 2008). However, sleeping pills are often ineffective, impair daytime performance, and represent a major expense for employers and their insurers (the annual prescription cost for one employee who uses Ambien CR nightly is $1500).

These costs can be reduced significantly with Dr. Jacobs’s insomnia program. It is proven more effective than Ambien, improves sleep in 80% of individuals, and reduces or eliminates sleeping pill use in 90%^1,5. The Blue Cross Blue Shield online version of his program reduced sleeping pill use in their members by 33% in just three weeks, reduced insomnia nights by 85%, and increased total sleep time by almost an hour. Recent research also shows that online, DVD, and CD insomnia programs should be the first-line treatment for insomnia because they can be delivered inexpensively and effectively. ^{6, 7, 8}

CD/MP3 and PDF versions of Dr. Jacobs’s insomnia program are now available to companies at introductory annual license rates that are less than the annual cost of seven nightly users of Ambien CR. Sleep coaching by Dr. Jacobs is also available to employees in telephonic, email, and text formats. Please contact Dr. Jacobs for additional information at info@cbtforinsomnia.com.

Dr. Jacobs’s bio, which also describes his work with Fortune 500 companies such as Fidelity, John Hancock, and Reebok, and media coverage of my work by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and the Economist, can be viewed at http://cbtforinsomnia.com/About/gregg_jacobs.html

1. Jacobs G.D., et al., Arch Intern Med, 2004; 2. National Sleep Foundation; 3. Chilcott, LA, et al. Pharmacoeconomics, 1996; 4. Godet-Cayre, V., et al. Sleep, 2006; 5. Jacobs, GD., et al., Am. J. of Med , 1996; 6. Espie, C. , Sleep, 2009; 7. Van Straetn, A., and Cuijpers, P., Sleep Med Rev, 2009; 8. Ritterband, L.M., et al., Arch Gen Psychiatry, 2009.