Delegate: Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology of the University of Coimbra and Portuguese Sleep Association
Affiliation: University of Coimbra, Portuguese Sleep Association
Short Bio: The Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology of the University of Coimbra (CNC-UC) is a Research Institute committed to foster advanced biomedical research, high-quality multidisciplinary graduate teaching at the University of Coimbra (UC), and public engagement in science. Sleep research and awareness are highly relevant concerns for the institute.
The Portuguese Sleep Association (APS) joins professionals from many health, education and university groups in order to promote awareness, education and research related to sleep and sleep disorders in a multidisciplinary perspective and addressed to health professionals and scholar, professional and general population.
Activity: A large-scale campaign has been developed by the partners of this application, based on the slogan “Healthy sleep, Sound mind, Happy world”.
A)CNC-UC and APS worked up, during the month of the World Sleep Day (WSD) on many activities. Telematic means and social networking were crucial to reach people of all ages, considering the pandemic situation the country (and the world) is facing:
1.In APS website awareness information about sleep was launched (https://apsono.com/pt/24-noticias/noticias-do-sono/502-dia-mundial-do-sono-2024)
2.On every day of March there was a new alert sentence about sleep on the social media of APS, CNC-UC and SleepApnea ID research team (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter). These messages were replaced by infographic videos (https://www.apsono.com/images/2022/FB_sono2022_v10_adapt1920x1600.mp4) on the World Sleep Day. These posts reached more than 4600 persons per daily publication.
B)On March 18 several activities were prepared and launched to increase health literacy, especially concerning sleep importance.1.Many of these activities took place in Convento São Francisco, in Coimbra (the main cultural venue in the central region of Portugal):
a.Drawing exhibition: This exhibition allowed to show drawings made by Portuguese children and adolescents from different scholar levels (from 6 to 18 years old). This initiative was entitled “A Higiene do Sono: Dormir bem para Feliz Acordar” (“Sleep Hygiene: Sleep well to a happy wake up”) and was created based on a prior drawing contest about sleep hygiene where more than 1500 drawings were received and 35 were selected for this exhibition.
b.Conference: On the afternoon of March18 some different health professionals and researchers were joined to talk about sleep, namely under the theme “Healthy sleep, Sound mind, Happy world”. This activity was entitled “Do que falamos quando falamos de sono” (“About what do we speak when we speak about sleep”) and was opened to the general public where the aim was to think and reflect about sleep in different perspectives: adult and pediatric sleep, family medicine intervention; psychologist perceptions about sleep and basic and clinical scientific research.
c.Sleep ID game: A card game focused on the most prevalent sleep disorders and sleep hygiene was produced and launched. This game aims at increasing health literacy mainly on sleep importance, raising awareness on the main symptoms of the most prevalent sleep disorders and reinforcing the importance of sleep hygiene for a healthy and good sleep. This initiative was shared by CNC and APS.
d.Theatre play: The day ended with a theatre play, Morfeu & Apneia, a role about sleep with particular focus on obstructive sleep apnea and age-related diseases. This performance was created and produced by the theater company Marionet (http://www.marioneteatro.com/2022/morfeu-e-apneia/) and had a 300 people audience.
2.Other activities as sessions were launched at schools and Health Centers (professionals and patients).
C)Media (radio and newspaper) interviews:
1.Under the scope of the Brain Awareness Week, the SleepApnea ID research team from CNC-UC did an interview for RUC (Rádio Universidade de Coimbra) (https://ruc.pt/podcast/entrevistas-ruc/entrevista-a-ana-rita-alvaro-15-03-2022). This activity reached more than 800 persons online so far.
a.On Radio Regional do Centro, where sleep as a pillar to get a healthy life style and a happy world was highlighted and other initiatives made under World Sleep Day were promoted.
b.Interviews in revues and newspapers.
Location: All over Portugal – Continental area, Portuguese Islands (Madeira, Azores) and other countries with Portuguese population.
Date of Activity: During March
Submitted by: M. Helena Estevão
