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Exhausted from being tired? Sleep on it!

• PRESS ROOM
 
• SEPTEMBER 24, 2019
 
• UDEMNOUVELLES

A new Canadian public health campaign is beginning to promote the importance of a good night's sleep.

Lack of sleep costs Canada more than $ 21 billion in lost productivity. To address this situation, a bilingual Canadian awareness campaign is being launched today to promote the importance of a good night's sleep to stay alert and healthy.

Aimed at the general public, the Sleep Here / Sleep On It campaign ! http://www.sleeponitcanada.ca is conducted by the Canadian Sleep Network and Circadian Rhythms (CSCN), the Canadian Sleep Society, the Sleep Foundation and Wake-up Narcolepsy Canada.

Its goal? Demystify sleep, offer solutions to people living with sleep disorders and make restful sleep a public health priority. The campaign was announced at the World Sleep Congress in Vancouver, and a website was also launched to support this campaign.

"Our goal is to get people to consider sleep as a priority in their lives," said Julie Carrier, a professor of psychology at the Université de Montréal, a researcher at the University Integrated Center for Health and Social Services in the North. de-l'Île-de-Montréal and Scientific Director of the CSCN.

The national campaign aims to broadcast two key messages:

• Sleep is essential to physical, emotional and cognitive health. To stay healthy, it is just as important to sleep well as to eat well and to engage in physical activity.
• Solutions for many sleep disorders include insomnia, sleep apnea, sleepwalking, narcolepsy, restless legs syndrome, and shift-related sleep disorders.

This national campaign will also support and promote the creation of knowledge dissemination platforms that will help raise awareness of sleep management.

Did you know?

• Lack of sleep can reduce your reaction rate as much as a blood alcohol level of 0.08 g, the legal limit for driving. Narcoleptics become sleepy and fall asleep at work, school or on the street.
• In as little as six years, people who sleep only six hours a night gain more weight than those who sleep seven or eight hours.
• Lack of sleep is also extremely expensive. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Canada is losing $ 21.4 billion annually in productivity due to absenteeism, accidents and injuries caused by lack of sleep.

"Canada is a leader in sleep research and now, with Sleep On It !, it's the first country in the world to make publicizing this work a public health priority." Julie Carrier said. We want to encourage other countries to do the same. That's why we're launching our campaign at the World Sleep Congress. Sleep research has made tremendous progress over the last 15 years, and the public, including people living with a sleep disorder, is entitled to the best, scientifically valid information presented with simplicity and originality."

Media relations

• Julie GazailleUniversity of MontrealTel: 514 343-6796
• Émilie JacobCIUSSS of the North-Island of MontréalTel: 514-331-3418