Event Info
Sleep health is a key pillar of preventive care, crucial for mental and physical well-being. The recent concept of "Sleep Health" recognises that sleep is important for everyone - not only those with clinical sleep disorders. With sleep problems one of the most common reasons for patients seeing their GPs, there is a growing need to provide primary care clinicians with up-to-date information on promoting healthy sleep throughout the population.
This webinar will introduce the importance of sleep health as a preventive health priority for all Australians. The landscape of Australia's sleep health will be described, in addition to the different dimensions that contribute to a person's overall sleep health. Relationships between sleep health with mental and physical health conditions in the population will be discussed. Pragmatic suggestions will be provided to help primary care clinicians discuss sleep health, identify possible sleep issues, and direct patients to evidence-based information, resources, and further assessment options. Case studies in general practice will be provided, to illustrate the diversity of sleep health issues that people experience, and the recommendations that can be provided to maintain healthy sleep, prevent mental and physical health consequences of poor sleep, and avoid the development of clinical sleep disorders.
This webinar a collaboration between RACGP Healthy Habits, the Australasian Sleep Association (ASA) and the Sleep Health Foundation (SHF).
Learning outcomes
- Identify sleep health as a core pillar of overall health and wellbeing and the importance of it as a preventive health priority.
- Describe the key dimensions and risks factors of sleep health.
- Review clinical conversations, screening for sleep issues and patient health literacy related to sleep health.
- Apply case-based learning to patient care
Presenters
Dr Bianca Cannon FRACGP
Dr Bianca Cannon is a GP and a lecturer in the specialty of general practice at the Sydney Medical School. She also works in private practice as a general practitioner. She has an interest in health literacy, women’s health, sexual health, mental health, and preventative health, including sleep medicine.
Dr Alexandra Metse
Dr Alexandra Metse is a clinical psychologist and academic from the University of the Sunshine Coast. A key focus of her clinical and research work is on the role of health behaviours in the interplay between physical and psychological health. Alex has a particular interest in the role of sleep in promoting health and preventing chronic disease and has contributed to major public health initiatives, including the Mitchell Institute and Sleep Health Foundation’s policy brief on improving population sleep health.
Dr Alexander Sweetman
Dr Alexander Sweetman is a Senior Program Manager at the Australasian Sleep Association. He leads a 4-year Commonwealth funded primary care sleep education and implementation program and collaborates on a 2-year pharmacist insomnia education program. Dr Sweetman is interested in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for insomnia (CBTi), preventive sleep health, and co-morbid insomnia and sleep apnoea.
Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor Moira Junge
Moira is a registered Health Psychologist and the CEO of the Sleep Health Foundation. Moira has over thirty years’ experience in the healthcare sector as a nurse then as a psychologist. As a Health Psychologist she has focused on health challenges and health behaviour change at an individual and population level. Moira firmly believes that sleep health prevention is better than cure and leads the Foundation to translate and implement of sleep research and aim to reach people before chronic challenges set in.