Delegate: Brazilian Sleep Society
Activity:
In the 3rd edition, Brazilian Sleep Society has promoted the “Sleep Week” from March 13 to March 19 in Brazil. Considering that Brazil is a very diverse country, composed by several ethnicities and cultures from around the world, we aimed to develop the activities of Sleep Week in all 5 Brazilian sociodemographic regions, respecting and exploring the characteristics of each locality. Our event occurred in 25 cities and reached a public of approximately 15,000 individuals (number of flyers distributed). Following the organizational structure of World Sleep Day, Brazilian Sleep Society appointed regional coordinators from each city (regular members of the society) who were responsible for the local organization of the events. Brazilian Sleep Society in collaboration with Department of Psychobiology from Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo (UNIFESP) produced the press release and the scientific material for all events. During the Sleep Week, several activities were conducted, comprising lectures for health professionals and general population, interviews to major media vehicles, publication of informative materials (flyers, videos, etc) on the hotsite (http://www.semanadosono2017.com.br/) and social medias (https://www.facebook.com/associacaobrasileiradosono).
During Sleep Week, over 50 publications in different communication channels were performed, including interviews for TV channels, radio, and newspapers from different regions of Brazil. The results of clipping service indicated that, if paid, the insertion of Sleep Week in the media would have cost more than US$ 1,300,000 for Brazilian Sleep Society. In our Facebook page, several Brazilian celebrities voluntarily promoted the event, increasing the divulgation of Sleep Week for general population. As a result, after Sleep Week, we observed a significant increase in the number of “likes” in our fan page (more than 1,100 new likes in a period of only 3 weeks). In addition, Sleep Week was divulgated in a mobile app called “Meu Ibira” from the biggest Brazilian communication vehicle, Rede Globo.
The closing event of Sleep Week has occurred in March 19 (Sunday) in several cities. In Sao Paulo city, the event occurred from 07:00 A.M. to 02:00 P.M. in the most visited urban park of Brazil, Ibirapuera Park. Approximately 30 sleep specialists from Brazilian Sleep Society and Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo promoted interactive activities about sleep with individuals of all ages. Three sessions of “Talk to the Sleep Specialist” were performed during the event, addressing the topics:
– 09:00 A.M.-10:00 A.M.: “Sleep in women” – Dr. Helena Hachul
– 11:00 A.M.-12:00 noon: “Sleep curiosities” – Dr. Lia Bittencourt
– 01:00 P.M.-02:00 P.M.: “Sleep in children and adolescents” – Dr. Gustavo Moreira
In each session, an invited sleep specialist answered questions about sleep of the participants. In addition, 2 sessions of Mindfulness were conducted with a specialist in meditation:
– 11:00 A.M.-11:30 A.M.: “Mindfulness and sleep” – Dr. Marcelo Demarzo
– 12:00 noon-12:30 P.M.: “Mindfulness and sleep” – Dr. Marcelo Demarzo
During the event, the participants were invited to indicate the number of hours that they usually sleep with a colored sticker (red for women and blue for men). We explained to the participants the differences between the habitual sleep time and the sleep duration recommended for each age group. A total of 162 individuals took part in this activity and the great number of participants that slept less than 6 hours/night was observed in adult group (24-64 years-old). Another interactive activity was the “Do you have a sleep complaint?”. In this activity, we used 6 plastic urns, each 1 representing a good sleep or a sleep complaint: 1) good sleep, 2) snoring and sleep apneas, 3) insomnia, 4) nightmares, 5) bruxism, and 6) leg movements. The participants were asked to deposit a colored ball in the urns with their sleep complaints. In each urn, the prevalence of the sleep complaint in Brazilian population was described, according to the epidemiological data of Hirotsu et al., Sleep Science (2014). A total of 245 individuals participated in this activity and we observed the following frequency of sleep complaints:
– Insomnia: 24.9%
– Snoring and sleep apneas: 19.6%
– Bruxism: 8.6%
– Leg movements: 8.2%
– Nightmares: 6.1%
Only in the Sao Paulo event, we had a public of 900 participants (according to the number of flyers distributed).
Location: 25 cities from Brazil
Date: from March 13 to March 19, 2017
Submitted by: Lenise Jihe Kim
Short Bio: Brazilian Sleep Society was founded in 1985 aiming to unify the Brazilian sleep professionals, including physicians, researchers, dentists, phonoaudiologists, physiotherapists, and technicians. Since its foundation, the Brazilian Sleep Society is a multidisciplinary institution whose missions are the promotion of sleep qualification for health professionals, dissemination of scientific knowledge, and increase the sleep awareness of the general population. Brazilian Sleep Society is also composed by 2 affiliated societies: Brazilian Association of Sleep Odontology and Brazilian Association of Sleep Medicine. Both associations are responsible for representing specific categories of sleep professionals and for the accreditation of new professionals in sleep medicine field. Brazilian Sleep Society is a worldwide institution, promoting several activities, comprising courses, scientific meetings, and events for the general population (e.g. Sleep Week). In addition, the society is committed with the development of new public policies in the Brazilian health system. Brazilian Sleep Society is also responsible for Sleep Science – the official scientific journal of Brazilian Sleep Society and Latin American Federation of Sleep Societies.
