Advocacy Toolkit
The AASM Advocacy Toolkit will help you start advocating on several sleep-related issues. You can share the topical handouts when you meet with legislators and post the social media graphics on your favorite platforms.
You also can visit our Take Action page to send a message to your legislators in Congress. The page also has tools to help you look up legislation and find your elected officials.
For information on how to contact your congressional office or set up a meeting, please contact the Advocacy Department at policy@aasm.org.
Sleep Health Caucus
Become a Founding Member
The AASM established a Congressional Sleep Health Caucus to emphasize the necessity of healthy sleep for optimal health and to help us promote high quality, patient-centered care for the millions of Americans who have a sleep disorder.
The caucus will seek to improve sleep health by highlighting the:
- Importance of healthy sleep for health, well-being, productivity and public safety
- Prevalence of sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea
- Effectiveness of treatments such as positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy
- Availability of expertise from the sleep team at accredited sleep facilities
- Discoveries generated by sleep and circadian research
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Daylight Saving Time
Establish Permanent Standard Time Nationwide
The AASM supports a switch to permanent standard time, explaining in our position statement that standard time more closely aligns with the daily rhythms of the body’s internal clock. Our statement also cites evidence of increased risks of motor vehicle accidents, cardiovascular events, and mood disturbances following the annual “spring forward” to daylight saving time.
“Permanent, year-round standard time is the best choice to most closely match our circadian sleep-wake cycle,” says lead author of the position statement Dr. M. Adeel Rishi, a pulmonology, sleep medicine and critical care specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and vice chair of the AASM Public Safety Committee. “Daylight saving time results in more darkness in the morning and more light in the evening, disrupting the body’s natural rhythm.”
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Telemedicine
Make current policy and exemptions permanent and support the Telehealth Modernization Act
In February, Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) reintroduced the bipartisan Telehealth Modernization Act that would update coverage restrictions that have long prevented life-saving telehealth services millions of Americans. The Telehealth Modernization Act codifies crucial flexibilities for telehealth coverage to increase access to high-quality health care services. We ask you to support and cosponsor this legislation.
The COVID-19 epidemic has led to an explosion of telemedicine use out of necessity and deregulation. Now that the American people have seen the potential
of telemedicine to improve and simplify care, we need to ensure every American continues to have the same access they did during the pandemic
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National Student Sleep Health Week
Become a Sponsor
Healthy sleep is essential to our students’ overall health and success in the classroom, leading to a safer, more productive life. Healthy People 2020, an HHS initiative, states one of their goals is to increase the proportion of high school students that get sufficient sleep. Adequate sleep is also critical to a healthy immune system, which is especially important in these challenging times.
Some of the other national organizations supporting the National Student Sleep Health Week:
- National Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
- National Safety Council (NSC)
- American School Health Association (ASHA)
- American School Counselor Association (ASCA)
- Society for Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE America)
- National Association of School Nurses (NASN)
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Locate Your Federal Representative
Contact your Representative or Senator.