NIH Spending More Than $187,000 to Improve Older Women's Sex Lives

The National Institutes of Health is funding a study at the University of Pittsburgh that aims to help women 50 or older improve their sex lives through mindfulness, a technique of meditation, according to NIH grant project information.

"Almost half of U.S. women experience sexual problems, which have significant negative impacts on physical and mental health… low sexual desire is the most common sexual problem, particularly among women 50 and older, but there are few treatment options available," the grant information said.

The project will use the mindfulness technique as a way to help older women. "Mindfulness is a practice that emphasizes in-the-moment focus and non-judgmental bodily awareness. A group-based behavioral intervention rooted in mindfulness has shown early promise in small trials, but only among younger women," the information said.

"It will address a significant public health need by allowing adults to maintain high quality of life and essential social relationships with aging," the project information added.

The research will continue through 2022. The NIH has spent more than $100 million on research into mindfulness, according to a 2014 report in The Washington Free Beacon.

Social care professionals such as therapists use mindfulness, as well as yoga and other forms of meditation, to help them better care for others, according to a report Monday in The Guardian.

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