Australasian Sleep Association on the World Stage

07 December 2023
From Alex Sweetman

As part of the Commonwealth-funded primary care education program, the ASA recently attended the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA), hosted by the RACGP . The conference at Sydney’s International Convention Centre was attended by approximately 3,000 Australian GPs and 1,000 international GPs.

 

Mischka Yates, Hailey Meaklim and I spoke to over 500 GPs about all things sleep health and sleep medicine at a ASA stand in the exhibition hall. 
“How often do you manage patients with sleep difficulties?”
Every GP that we spoke to recognised the high prevalence of sleep health problems in their day-to-day work, and the importance of sleep health for mental and physical wellbeing. 

   
Doctors Bianca Cannon, Cathy Andronis, Hailey Meaklim, and I coordinated a Skill-Building session on insomnia and cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-i) to approximately 150 GPs. Information about insomnia and CBT-i was presented through GP-patient role-plays, interactive components, demonstrations of the online primary care guideline, and presentations.

Thank you to everyone that engaged with us during the event, and a special thank you to Hailey for helping at the exhibition stand, and to Hailey, Bianca and Cathy for your brilliant presentations during the Skill-Building session!