HCF is reminding Australians just how important sleep is to their overall health as a survey reveals 40 per cent of Australians plan on swapping their commute for sleep now that hybrid and remote work and study has become the norm.
The survey conducted by YouGov involved over 2,500 adults.
HCF's chief officer of member health, Julie Andrews, said the survey result indicated that sleep was a worrying topic for many.
“If 40 per cent of working or studying Australians are planning on getting more sleep, it tells us that they’re aware they are already not getting enough,” said Ms Andrews.
“Setting goals is one thing but at HCF we’re serious about helping members reach those sleep goals and build better sleep habits, which is why we’ve partnered with Sleepfit Solutions to help people identify sleep issues, recommend improvements and have easy access to personalised tools in the palm of their hand through an app.”
Sleepfit CEO Melissa Webster, who founded the company to help provide sleep awareness, education, screening and strategies, said sleep and fatigue management could have an enormous impact on health.
“Getting the right amount of sleep is going to help you live longer, it’s going to help you enhance your memory; will help protect you from diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s, and it will ward off colds and flu,” said Ms Webster.
"The research tells us that globally about 40 per cent of us are not getting enough sleep - enough is between seven and nine hours depending on your needs.”
Ms Webster said sleep was a brain cleanse and a rejuvenation system for the body.
“When we do sleep, our brain shrinks by about 30 per cent in mass and we have fluid that runs through our brain and it clears out the build-up of toxins that are almost like a plaque, this is called amyloid-beta,” she said.
“When you don’t get enough sleep, what’s happening is it doesn’t get the opportunity to do that job as well as it could and should.”