A Parliamentary committee on health and aged care has opened its eyes to Australia’s sleeping problems
The Parliament’s Health, Aged Care and Sport Committee has released its report Bedtime Reading: Report on the Inquiry into Sleep Health Awareness in Australia which considers the prevalence, causes, and symptoms of inadequate sleep and sleep disorders, as well as treatment and support available for sleep disorders.
Chair of the Committee, Trent Zimmerman MP said the importance of sleep was often overlooked but it was one of the pillars of a healthy lifestyle.
“Regularly getting inadequate sleep is linked to a range of serious physical and mental health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and dementia,” Mr Zimmerman said.
“To address this, the Committee has recommended an education and awareness campaign to encourage people to prioritise sleep and to highlight that regularly foregoing sleep due to the pressures of a busy lifestyle will have health consequences.”
He said the Committee had made 10 recommendations including that there be a national approach to working hours and rest breaks for shift workers; a review of sleep health services funded under the Medicare Benefits Schedule; expanded support for treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea; and additional sleep health training for medical professionals.
Also recommended was funding for research into the effects of the use of digital devices on children’s sleep health.
“Bedtime Reading is a report that we hope will give you a good night’s sleep,” Mr Zimmerman said.
“Four in every 10 Australians are not getting the sleep they need.
“My hope is that this report will help bring attention to the central function of sleep to overall health and wellbeing and increase the focus placed on sleep among policy makers and in the broader community,” he said.
The committee’s 147-page report can be accessed at this PS News link.
