Gain national recognition for your sleep awareness efforts!
Enter to win the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) 2008 Healthy Sleep Community Award.
Applications are due to NSF by January 15, 2008.

The NSF Healthy Sleep Community Award recognizes outstanding efforts by a town, city, district, state, or other community organization to initiate or continue a sleep activity or program with effective, long-lasting results on a significant proportion of a population. The activity or program can take place in a single community, an entire city, throughout multiple cities, or be a statewide effort.

Health care providers, educators, civic leaders and/or community members are the driving forces behind the NSF Healthy Sleep Community Award. Nominees should demonstrate a commitment to:

• Help individuals adopt healthy sleep behaviors.
• Reduce sleep deprivation and its impact on a healthy lifestyle.
• Increase safety and alertness on the highways, in the workplace, in schools or in the community at large through improved awareness of the effects of inadequate sleep.
• Diagnose and treat sleep disorders without undue delay from the onset of symptoms.

Eligibility:
Any town, city, district, or state is eligible. Individuals, organizations, government agencies, or other entities may submit entries for a single initiative or a series of programs or activities. Individuals working on behalf of a potential award-winning Healthy Sleep Community may enter their initiatives. Sleep centers should not apply unless they have worked with other significant community organizations.

Entries:
Submit your nomination by downloading and completing the entry form (PDF). NSF must receive all entries for the Healthy Sleep Community Award no later than January 15, 2008.

(Can't open a PDF? Download Adobe Acrobat here.)

Judging:
NSF staff and members of the Awards Committee will evaluate entries for the Healthy Sleep Community Award.

Winners:
Winners of the NSF 2006 Healthy Sleep Community Award will be notified by February 20, 2008. NSF and the award-winning Sleep Community will announce the Award jointly during National Sleep Awareness Week (March 3-9, 2008.)

Prizes:
All entrants will receive a NSF certificate of appreciation. All non-winners will be eligible for the award again next year.

The 2008 NSF Healthy Sleep Community Award winner will receive:

• National recognition for the activity or project by NSF, through a national press release.
• NSF Healthy Sleep Community award plaque.
• Tips from NSF on how to promote the awardee’s program to the press.

History:
The NSF Healthy Sleep Community Award (formerly the Healthy Sleep Capital Award) was established in 1999 to recognize outstanding community efforts in promoting and educating the public about healthy sleep. Meet the previous award winners:

• 1999—Walla Walla, WA received the first-ever award for its comprehensive public education and awareness program on sleep and sleep disorders to primary care physicians, specialists, and citizens.
  
  
• 2000—Edina, MN was honored for its efforts in delaying high school start times so that school clocks and teens’ biological clocks were more in sync, and students were less likely to come to school too sleepy to learn.
  
  
• 2001—Albuquerque, NM received the award for its police department program that limits weekly work hours to prevent sleep deprivation and encourage health and safety.
  
  
• 2002—Moscow, ID was recognized for its efforts to educate primary care physicians and citizens about the importance of sleep and the symptoms of sleep disorders, which led to a new understanding of the prevalence of restless legs syndrome (RLS), a sleep disorder that was found to affect a large proportion of Moscow residents.
  
  
• 2003—Detroit, MI earned the award for Sweet Dreamzzz, a unique volunteer program for impoverished children that provides youngsters with the bedtime essentials and comforts they need to achieve a good night’s sleep.
  
  
• 2004—Great Lakes, IL U.S. Navy Training Command won the award for its efforts to improve the well-being and success of Naval recruits by increasing their “rack schedule” (sleep time) and improving dormitory facilities.
  
  
• 2005—Wilton, CT Board of Education and Wilton League of Women Voters received the award for working with schools, medical professionals, town officials, and concerned citizens to educate the community about adolescent sleep needs, which resulted in later school start times for Wilton’s middle and high schools.
  
  —U.S. Coast Guard’s Crew Endurance Management Program was also recognized with an honorable mention for integrating healthy sleep into work practices to improve the health, safety, and performance of crew members as well as others in the maritime industry.
  
  
• 2006—Boston, MA’s Harvard Work Hours, Health and Safety Group received the award for its groundbreaking studies on the effects of extended work hours and sleep deprivation on the safety and health of physicians, patients, police officers, and the general public.
  
  —Zionsville, IN’s father-and-son team of Tony and C.J. Edgecomb received an honorable mention for creating an educational program on narcolepsy for C.J.’s school, featuring a video explaining narcolepsy, and a question-and-answer session in which 12-year-old C.J. explained how he copes with narcolepsy in everyday life.
  
  
• 2007— Green Bay, WI’s Schneider National received the award for its extensive sleep apnea screening and treatment program for commercial truck drivers, which has made great strides in improving not only the health of its drivers, but also the overall safety of roads nationwide due to decreased driver fatigue.
  
  —Long Beach, CA’s Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller Children’s Hospital received an honorable mention for its efforts to reduce the turnover rate for its night shift nurses through innovative education programs and development of new policies and services designed to promote a healthy lifestyle among their staff.