Delegate: Dr. Bingqian Zhu; Dr. Yan Li
Affiliation: Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Nursing; Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Nursing
Short Bio:
Dr. Bingqian Zhu completed her PhD in Nursing from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is working as a Research Associate Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Nursing. She was accepted by the International Sleep Research Training Program class of 2021 and was mentored by Dr. Simon Kyle from the University of Oxford. Dr. Zhu is dedicated to the development of sleep medicine by working as a nurse researcher and mentoring students. Her research in sleep received national and municipal funding. She has organized World Sleep Day activities for four years in a row. In response to the World Sleep Society’s call for “Make Sleep Health a Priority”, Dr. Zhu and her young students planned the event. It not only increased healthcare professionals awareness of healthy sleep but also provided a great opportunity for the younger generation (i.e., medical students) to learn about sleep. Successful completion of this year’s event has laid a solid foundation for future events alike.
Dr. Yan Li is an Assistant Professor at the School of Nursing, Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She completed her postdoctoral training at the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery, and Palliative Care at King’s College London, from 2019 to 2020. In recognition of her outstanding research performance, she has been honored as a Presidential Young Scholar. Her research interests include Digital Psychosocial Health, Mental Health of Individuals with physical disabilities. Her work has been supported by the Hong Kong Government Research Grant Council, Health and Medical Research Fund, and University Grant Council. She was also awarded the Hong Kong Government Health and Medical Research Fund Research Fellowship. She has contributed to local service innovation and research development in mental health.
Activity:
Building upon World Sleep Day activities during the past four years, we targeted healthcare providers working in the hospitals this year. This group of people are vulnerable to sleep problems, yet they often prioritize their patients’ sleep health over theirs. Their sleep problems are under-recognized and under-treated. In collaboration with Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Nursing, we organized a series of events, including social media posts, pamphlets, and four lectures. The lectured are in hybrid format (in-person and online). Healthcare professionals from both Shanghai and Hong Kong participated, with a wider outreach. The aims of those activities were to raise healthcare professionals’ awareness of the importance of sleep, increase their knowledge in sleep, and improve their skills in managing sleep. This years event features the following activities.
- Dec 2024-Jan 2025: Designed our group name, logo, and cardholder, posted educational content via social media
Our team members consist of faculties and students from health sciences, including nursing and clinical medicine. We thus named our team “Doctors Waiting for Sleep” (医医待睡). In Chinese, the name has the same pronunciation as “a narrows strip of water ”(一衣带水), which is used to describe a close relationship. We also designed our logo and it shows a cat with a Nursing Cap sleeping on the moon, highlighting the wish for a good night of sleep (Fig. 1.) We designed the cardholder with the logo on it (Fig.2.) The cardholder was to be distributed to the audiences on the event day. We also created a WeChat Official Account to post relevant education content which covers fundamental concepts of sleep, common sleep disorders, and sleep hygiene(Fig. 3 and Fig. 4.)
Fig 1 Logo designed by our team
Fig 2 Cardholder designed by our team
Fig 3 Content posted in social media (Example 1)
Fig 4 Content posted in social media (Example 2)
2. Feb 2025: Finalized pamphlet for WSD, developed the timeline for in-person + online hybrid lectures
Given our audiences’ background in health sciences, we refined and tailored our pamphlet. The pamphlet is composed of six sections (Fig. 5): 1) Basics about sleep; 2) Importance of sleep; 3) Sleep in healthcare professionals; 4) Adult sleep hygiene; 5) Myths about sleep (e.g., impact of coffee, alcohol, and melatonin on sleep); 6) Common sleep disorders among healthcare professionals (e.g., insomnia, shift work sleep disorder, sleep apnea.)
Fig. 5 Pamphlet about sleep
In order to increase the audiences’ knowledge and skills in managing sleep, we planned four lectures. They were to be delivered via hybrid format, including both online and in-person interactions. The 1st one focused on insomnia management, the 2nd focuses on psychological therapy of sleep, the 3rd focuses on traditional Chinese medicine in sleep management, and the last one covers sleep promotion through meditation.
Fig 6. Schedule for lectures
3. Late February 2025: Designed banners and posters about the event, developed flyer for the first lecture, prepared gifts for audiences
We designed the banners and posters to be used on the event day (shown in Fig 7.) We also designed a flyer to promote our first lecture (Fig 8.) As an incentive, we prepared small gifts to be distributed to the audiences, including a blanket and wormwood hammer (Fig. 9.)
Fig 7. Banners with theme Making Sleep Health a Priority
Fig 8 Poster of the first lecture
Fig 9. Example of gift-wormwood hammer
4. Event Day (March 7, 2025): First lecture on managing insomnia
The first lecture was held on March 7 in Songjiang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. A sleep expert, Dr. Qiang Liu from Shanghai Mental Health Center, was invited to deliver the lecture (Fig. 10.) The lecture focused on managing insomnia. Dr. Liu talked about some basics about sleep, the characteristics about insomnia, ways to managing insomnia, and offered some tips on healthy sleep. Over 100 healthcare professionals joined, around 50 in Shanghai (Fig 11) and 50 in Hong Kong (Fig. 12.)
Fig 10. Sleep expert delivering the lecture
Fig 11. In-person participation from Shanghai
Fig 12 Online participation from Hong Kong
Prior to the lecture, audiences were instructed to fill out several validated questionnaires to assess their sleep, knowledge in sleep, as well as their sleep hygiene (Fig. 13.) The lecture was very engaging. It ended with a very interactive Q&A (Fig. 14.)
Fig 13. Sleep questionnaires
Fig 14 Q&A session
5. News about our event
We released news about this event on our schools website (Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Nursing): https://www.shsmu.edu.cn/hlxy/info/1054/3601.htm. It was also posted on social media account owned by Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Nursing: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/1AuZz_CAilo1YfOqV15tAw?from=timeline&isappinstalled=0&scene=2&clicktime=1743659280&enterid=1743659280
6. To be continued
The above activities were well recognized by the audiences. As a continuous effort, we will host three additional lectures (Shown in Fig.6.) The next one is scheduled in mid-April and will be hosted in Hong Kong. The flayer about this lecture is shown in Fig 15.
Fig. 15 Flyer about the second lecture
Acknowledgements: The series of event was supported by Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine “Science Popularizing Program” and the Hong Kong University Grant Council Shanghai-Hong Kong University Alliance Fund. Special thanks to Songiiang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine for providing spaces for hosting the in-person event. Thanks to Guiyan Zhao, Jingqi Bai, Chenhao Zhang, Rui Yang, Yixiong Qiao, Jinle Wang from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Mandy He from Hong Kong Polytechnic University for their efforts in the preparation and implementation of the activities.
Locations: Shanghai (in-person) and Hong Kong (online)
Country: China
Date: March 7, 2025
Submitted by: Bingqian Zhu
