We’re excited to be partnering with Dr Katie Lewis, a Research Fellow at Cardiff University, investigating the link between sleep and mental health. Katie is leading a new project on young people’s sleep called Sleep Zzzines.
About the project
A recent report found that 1 in 3 young people in Welsh secondary schools have difficulties with their sleep. This was more common in young people from underprivileged backgrounds.
- Since 2020, schools in England teach techniques to improve sleep, but Welsh Government do not provide specific advice for young people in Welsh Schools
- This advice needs to be practical and useful for young people, rather than vague advice to “not use your phone”
However, before developing sleep advice for young people, we first need to better understand what is causing sleep problems. Could it be just due to drinking caffeine and using their phones too much, or is there more to it than that?
It is therefore crucial for scientists, politicians, and teachers to learn from young people about the barriers they face when trying to improve their sleep, and what they think will be most helpful.
Our aims:
- Raise awareness of the issues affecting young people’s sleep and the impact on their wellbeing
- Give young people a voice in how advice about sleep is taught in UK schools
To do this, we’re working with young people in the Grange Pavilion Youth Forum and the Grangetown Schools Advisory Panel.
We will be running zine workshops with members of the forum, working with zine and graphic artists to structure the sessions. Zines are small booklets that use artwork and text to express underrepresented and marginalised voices in society. An introduction to zines is available on Youtube.
More information
For more information on the project contact the NCMH Communications team: psychmedcomms@cardiff.ac.uk