National Sleep Foundation: Tackling America's Sleep Debt

WASHINGTON, DC (March 30) -- The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) is the nation's foremost publicly supported educational organization in the field of sleep. Comprised of many of the nation’s leading sleep scientists and medical and transportation safety experts, NSF is dedicated to improving health and safety by achieving understanding of sleep and sleep disorders, and by supporting education, sleep-related research, and advocacy. Established in 1990 as an independent nonprofit organization, NSF has earned the reputation as a credible and well-respected source of information on sleep, sleep disorders, and the consequences of sleep deprivation.

PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES

NSF conducts a wide variety of programs designed to alert the public, healthcare providers, and policymakers to the life and death importance of adequate sleep. These include public education, government relations and advocacy efforts, support for research, and outreach to health care providers. Following are program and activity highlights:

Public Education

NSF is the organizer and sponsor of National Sleep Awareness Week® (NSAW), an annual public education, information, and awareness campaign that coincides with the return to Daylight Saving Time, when clocks "spring forward" at 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday in April, and most Americans lose an hour of sleep. This nationwide effort is the cornerstone for multiple initiatives designed to make sleep consciousness a part of every American's health and safety plans. NSF's annual Sleep in America poll is released during NSAW, generating heavy media attention throughout the country.

Other major NSF public education initiatives include the first national campaign to raise awareness about drowsy driving and the extent of the problem. NSF recently launched www.DrowsyDriving.org, the only Web site devoted exclusively to the issue. In addition to drowsy driving, NSF's report on adolescent sleep needs has spurred school districts around the country to reexamine start times so that teens come to school ready to learn rather than ready to sleep. New sleep guidelines for newborns to three year-olds were recently published and made available to parents and pediatricians, and a new sleep diary for children was recently introduced to help them develop good sleep habits. NSF also produces several of its materials in Spanish, including sleep information sheets on insomnia, sleep apnea, drowsy driving, children and sleep, and general sleep tips.

NSF's award-winning quarterly news magazine, sleepmatters, is devoted to the subject of sleep and includes the latest in scientific research. A free weekly e-newsletter, NSF Alert, presents up-to-date information about new developments in sleep research and resources for increasing awareness of the importance of sleep, and NSF's popular Web site, www.sleepfoundation.org, provides extensive information to the public and the media about the nature of sleep, sleep problems and disorders, research, advocacy, and policy-related issues.

Government Relations and Advocacy

NSF works with congress and federal agencies to address legislative and regulatory issues related to sleep, alertness and safety, such as hours-of-service rules for commercial drivers. NSF also advocates for federal funding of education, research and scientific initiatives.

Support for Research

NSF stimulates scientific research through its Pickwick Postdoctoral Fellowships to enable young researchers to devote the major portion of their professional effort to the study of sleep and sleep disorders.

Outreach to Health Care Providers

Extending its reach at the grassroots level, NSF has developed a nationwide partnership of local sleep centers to help champion the importance of sleep in the community. More than 500 sleep centers now participate in this special program, known as Community Sleep Awareness Partners ® (CSAPs), serving as local resources to the public and the media and working with NSF throughout the year to promote sleep education.

PARTNERSHIPS

Partnerships, the key to the Foundation's many initiatives, provide the basis for numerous innovative sleep education projects that can have a lasting impact on Americans' lives at home, at school, and at work.

NSF partners with leading sleep experts from around the nation and throughout the world who provide guidance, offer peer reviews of materials, and help the Foundation develop guidelines that reflect a consensus of other organizations and agencies involved in sleep issues such as the National Institutes of Health and the Federal Drug Administration.

The American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO and the National Association of Elementary School Principals are partners with NSF in its 2004 National Sleep Awareness Week campaign.

More than 100 federal and state agencies, nonprofit organizations, and associations work with NSF for National sleep Awareness Week 2004 as Cooperative Co-Sponsors, tapping their own membership and communications networks to help spread the word about the importance of sleep to health, safety, and well-being. They include the American School Health Association, American Medical Student Association, Michigan State Police, National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, National Safety Council, and the National Transportation Safety Board.

Many corporate sponsors partner with NSF in sleep education initiatives for National Sleep Awareness Week and other initiatives throughout the year. They include the Federal Railroad Administration, Hot Spring Spas, King Pharmaceuticals, Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc/Pfizer Inc., Orphan Medical, Respironics, Inc., Sanofi-Synthelabo, Inc., Sealy, Inc., and Sepracor, Inc.,

Working together, we strive to help make a good night's sleep within easy reach of all Americans.

The National Sleep Foundation is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to improving public health and safety by achieving public understanding of sleep and sleep disorders, and by supporting public education, sleep-related research, and advocacy. NSF is based in Washington, DC.