Delegate: Portuguese Sleep Association
Affiliations: APS, ANSS, ESRS
Short Bio: The Portuguese Sleep Association was created in 1991 in order to promote awareness, education and research in relation to sleep and sleep disorders in a multidisciplinary perspective. Various health professionals from many health groups are involved in the Association and several meetings have been organized in order to improve Portuguese sleep science. Awareness campaigns for general public have been an important point of its activity. The Association has been the trigger for the Certification for the Competence of Sleep Medicine in Portugal.
Activity: The Portuguese Sleep Association (APS) developed an extensive campaign on the weeks before and after the World Sleep Day (WSD). It was directed to all ages of professional and non-professional people. One of the aims of the campaign was that every portuguese live being who, on the 16th March, went to school, to work, to internet or social network, read the newspaper, listened to the radio or watched TV, would hear about the importance of sleep, how to respect it, to have a good life.
1.A Press Release was sent to all media, social media infuencers, health care centers, local communities, kindergarten and schools, homecare providers and many official institutions two weeks before the WSD.
2.A partnership was taken place with the Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology of the University of Coimbra from the Network of European Neuroscience Institutes:
a.A Video was elaborated to alert for the importance of attending to sleep rhythms to achieve a healthy life. It was spread out to main TV channels, many hospitals and health centres, homecare providers, pharmacies, APS Site, Facebook (more than 330 000 views) and Instagram, all social and performing events taking place on the day (video passed on event break)
b.A Strip cartoon was done about the WSD Slogan
i. It was published on the 16th March on one main Portuguese Newpaper “O Público” and was supplemented with an article about the theme
ii. The WSD leaflet was done with the strip cartoon and it was spread to all the social and cultural events that were taking place on the WSD on Coimbra
c.PubhD – A meeting of PhD students in a pub to speak about sleep during the Brain Awareness Week
d.An interactive session at the Planetarium of the Live Science Centre of Coimbra for a group of scholar children and teachers, explaining the video and the cartoon
e.Many interviews on the main TV channels, radio, magazines and newpapers.
3.A distribution of thousands of the leaflet “Sleep hygiene in children and adolescents” was carried over hospitals, health centres and schools over the country. In schools many educational programs were carried out and will go on during April.
4.A leaflet about Compliance on CPAP therapy was developed in collaboration with a homecare provider.
5.To end the week after the WSD, a meeting for General Practitioners in collaboration with the Working Group of Sleep Pathology from the Portuguese Respiratory Society took place in Coimbra. “ The Essential of Sleep Medicine for General Practice” focused most important clues of sleep medicine and how to approach them.
6.The campaign was sponsored by Homecare Providers and a Pharmacy Group.
Location: All over the country
Date of Activity: During the week before, the main day !march, 16th) and the week after
Submitted By: Maria Helena Estêvão
