The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) hosted the first Congressional briefing on sleep health equity, convening expert panelists from across the country for a conversation on social determinants of sleep health, focusing on potential solutions.
Members of Congress, staff, and interested stakeholders heard from the panel about the causes and consequences of sleep health disparities, steps needed to promote sleep health equity, and what Congress can do to accelerate this important work.
“The National Sleep Foundation believes that everyone should have the same opportunity to be their Best Slept Self. Understanding the sources of racial/ethnic sleep health disparities and promoting actionable solutions to eliminate them and achieve sleep health equity is critical to the NSF’s mission,” says NSF chair Temitayo Oyegbile-Chidi, MD, PhD, and featured speaker at the event, in a release.
Sleep is necessary for life. Getting less than the NSF-recommended seven to nine hours of sleep per night, for most adults, and/or having poor sleep quality are associated with adverse health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, mental health conditions, and mortality. People from historically underserved communities in the US are disproportionately affected by social determinants leading to increases in poor sleep health and sleep disorders, according to a release from NSF, which notes that it is critical to understand the sources of racial/ethnic sleep health disparities and promote actionable solutions to achieve sleep health equity.
NSF’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of the public through sleep education and advocacy. This Congressional briefing convened expert panelists from across the country for an essential conversation on social determinants of sleep health, focusing on potential solutions.
NSF’s Congressional briefing complements other ongoing NSF activities to help support sleep health equity, such as growing the body of published evidence through its journal Sleep Health, proactive diversity and inclusiveness in NSF program topics and participants, expanded design and analysis of NSF’s population health research, and other internal progress towards NSF’s position on sleep health equity.
Photo 173607052 © Skypixel | Dreamstime.com
