Addressing Sleep Health in Low-Income, Disadvantaged Youth Through Data-Informed Trainings for School-based Staff/Counselors

2020 Community Sleep Health Grant

Jack Peltz, PhD

Daemen College and The Center for Youth

Key Project Outcome

With AASM Foundation support, our team provided customized sleep health education to a large group of school-based counselors that serve students (K-12) in the city of Rochester, NY and the surrounding metro area. The city of Rochester is the third-poorest big city in the country – with approximately 25,000 (52%) of children under age 18 living in poverty. Furthermore, comprehensive sleep education and training is virtually non-existent for mental health and related professionals that serve youth in this area. Based on an assessment of school-based counselors’ knowledge and needs, we developed and delivered a comprehensive sleep health curriculum through in-person training, small group discussions, workshop materials, and a resource guide. Through the trainings, we also helped counselors to develop strategies for disseminating information within their respective schools. By supporting youth through their counselors and school-based staff, this project created an avenue to improve sleep health for thousands of children among a difficult to reach population.