This group will not receive intervention, but will receive information sessions on general health and well-being topics, such as sleep hygiene, healthy lifestyle habits and practical tips to improve rest, in order to control for the placebo effect. These information sessions will be held at the beginning of the study and will be supported by brochures and educational material.

This group will participate in a structured program that combines the development of emotional intelligence with relaxation techniques. It will last 12 weeks, with sessions twice a week, each lasting approximately 60 minutes. The sessions will be led by a mental health professional. During the sessions, exercises will be worked on to recognize, understand and regulate emotions, allowing participants to develop skills to better manage stress and anxiety. In addition, relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, guided meditation and visualization will be practiced, which have been shown to be effective in reducing muscle tension, lowering cortisol levels and promoting restful sleep.

In each session, participants will engage in exercises aimed at recognizing, understanding, and regulating their emotions. These interactive activities will foster personal reflection and group discussion, helping individuals identify emotions in various situations and their impact on behavior. This approach will enhance emotional awareness and equip participants with practical tools for managing stress and anxiety. Various relaxation techniques will also be introduced. Deep breathing exercises will teach participants to calm their minds and bodies, reducing tension. Guided meditation will help them focus inward, promoting mental peace and deep relaxation. Additionally, visualization exercises will encourage imagining calming scenarios, alleviating anxiety and improving overall well-being.

Used extensively for assessing health-related quality of life. The results are values between 0 and 100. Optimal health is represented by scores of 100 and very poor health would equal 0.

Questionnaire used to screen for depression in older people. Scores from 00 to 05 indicate Normal screening, 06 to 10 Moderate Depression screening, and 11 to 15 Severe Depression screening.

Anxiety was assessed using the Hamilton Scale [25], an instrument designed to identify and measure anxiety symptoms, exploring the alteration of the emotional state, as well as subjective sensations of tension, restlessness or nervousness. The scale consists of 14 items covering physical, mental and behavioural symptoms related to anxiety. Of these items, 7 are aimed at assessing psychological anxiety (items 1-6 and 14), while the other 7 focus on somatic anxiety (items 7-13). Each item is scored on a scale ranging from 0 to 4, where: 0 = Absent, 1 = Mild, 2 = Moderate, 3 = Severe and 4 = Very severe. The total score of the scale ranges from 0 to 56 points, with higher values reflecting a greater intensity of anxiety symptoms.

The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is a self-administered questionnaire designed to measure the level of perceived stress over the past month [28,29]. This instrument consists of 14 items that are answered using a five-point scale (0 = never, 1 = almost never, 2 = sometimes, 3 = often, 4 = very often). To calculate the total score, the responses to items 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, and 13 are reversed (assigning values of 0=4, 1=3, 2=2, 3=1, and 4=0) and then the scores for all items are summed. The total range varies between 0 and 56 points, with higher scores indicating a higher level of perceived stress.