In this episode:

• There is a massive magnitude of people suffering from insomnia. It’s important to talk about insomnia and manage it well
• Sleep hygiene is helpful but not first line treatment, and should go alongside cognitive behavioural treatments for insomnia (CBT-I)
• Digital CBT-I is offered to most patients and is much more readily available to general practitioners throughout primary care
• 20 to 40% of patients that complete CBT-I cease to use medication for insomnia

Guest: Dr Alexander Sweetman, Senior Program Manager

Host: Dr David Lim, GP and Medical Educator

Total time: 29 mins

Recommended resources:

• ASA online primary care sleep health resource
• GP digital CBT-I implementation trial

GPs throughout Australia can access this digital CBT-I referral pathway. Eligible patients are allocated to an immediate 5-session digital CBT-I intervention, or an 8-week waiting period before accessing the intervention.

• Australian Journal of General Practice step-by-step guide to GP delivered brief CBT-I
• Insomnia assessment and management/referral options for GPs: Part 1 | Healthed
• New sleep resources for GPs