This event has finished.

Delegates at the event can watch the lectures up until Monday 22 March 2021. You will have been sent a password to access the slides and recording.

Faith Orchard slides

Vicki Dawson slides

Heather Elphick slides

It always seems to involve sleep, but why? This ACAMH West Midlands Branch event will help shed light on the topic, providing details of the latest research, together with practical tips.

Quick links about the event

About the event
Who should attend
Key Takeaways
Programme
About the speakers

About the event

The time leading up to bedtime, coupled with the routine set, is known as ’sleep hygiene’. It is common for children and young people, particularly those who are in high-risk groups, to have difficulty with their sleep. Having, and maintaining, good sleep hygiene can help to get sleep and to stay asleep.

Having an understanding of sleep disorders and the relationship with mental health, together with the latest research, and advice is critical to be able to help improve sleep hygiene.

We will look at the issues around children’s sleep, recent research findings, implications of sleep for children’s mental health and wellbeing, evidence-based psychological treatment, knowledge of support (what helps and hinders) and effective behavioural interventions, together with the work of the Sheffield Sleep Clinic and thesleepcharity.

Who should attend

All those working with school age children, or who contribute to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of school age children, e.g. school governors, teaching and support staff, social workers, CAMHS.

Key Takeaways

• Raise awareness of the importance of good sleep hygiene for children;
• Increase understanding of the relationship between sleep and children’s mental health
• Share information about recent evidence based interventions
• Equip professionals, parents and carers to address sleep issues effectively – through knowledge of sources of information and support, and through knowledge of practical strategies.

Programme

Dr. Faith Orchard, Lecturer, School of Psychology, University of Sussex

Vicki Dawson, CEO and Founder, The Sleep Charity, Doncaster

Professor Heather Elphick, Consultant, Sheffield Children’s Hospital and Visiting Professor, Sheffield Hallam University.

Q & A

About the speakers

Dr. Faith Orchard Faith Orchard has recently moved to the University of Sussex following a position based at the Anxiety and Depression in Young People (AnDY) Research Clinic at the University of Reading. Faith’s research interests span the causal and maintaining mechanisms in child and adolescent mental health, and subsequent implications for intervention. As part of this work, Faith is interested in the role of sleep disturbance in the development of depression, and is conducting research examining the effectiveness of brief CBT-I on symptoms of sleep, mood, and anxiety in community and clinical samples of young people.

Vicki Dawson 

Vicki is the Founder and CEO of The Children’s Sleep Charity and passionate about supporting families to get a better night’s sleep. Vicki is on the Board of the British Paediatric Sleep Association as Lead for Sleep Practitioners and a member of the British Sleep Society. She is involved in a number of research projects in the UK around sleep and gives lectures at a number of universities to Post Graduate Medical students. Vicki was awarded the Duke of York’s ‘Outstanding Leadership Award’ in 2017.

Professor Heather Elphick 

Heather Elphick MBChB MRCP MD is a Consultant in Paediatric Respiratory and Sleep Medicine and Visiting Professor at Sheffield Hallam University. Heather’s clinical interests include sleep-disordered breathing, non-respiratory sleep disorders, narcolepsy, and long-term ventilation. She has collaborated on NIHR funded projects including the PLEASANT asthma trial and has recently received an award from the Health Foundation for development of a city-wide behavioural sleep service in Sheffield.