Sleep Education: A Narrative Review on Barriers and Opportunities to Grow a Diverse Sleep Team.

Abstract

The increased recognition of sleep-wake disorders and their effects, along with the anticipated shortage of sleep medicine specialists, heralds a concomitant need to have more health care providers with dedicated training in the evaluation and management of sleep disorders across the life span. A narrative review of published literature on sleep education was conducted and identified factors related to diversity within the sleep team, barriers to implementation of sleep education, and strides in sleep education. Implementation of novel sleep education strategies will require creative navigation of barriers such as allocation of curricular time, availability of teaching faculty, and funding to train more members of the sleep team. Deliberate coordination within and across health professions programs, with efforts to share resources and leverage technology, will be instrumental to guide the next phase of growth in sleep education.