QUMISH program wraps up a successful two years

It has been an absolute privilege for the Australasian Sleep Association to lead this project, and its success demonstrates the value of the combination of strategic funding, collaboration and cross-sectoral collective action to make a significant change in how healthcare is delivered in Australia. The evidence base is significant for the central role of sleep health in all aspects of physical and mental health. There is still a great deal of work to do to help healthcare providers understand and leverage better sleep health for better overall health. This collaborative and collective approach shows enormous promise as a way of addressing the current gaps and improving the health of Australians more broadly.

The two-year QUMISH program provided over 13,624 engagements with Australian pharmacists. This program significantly improved pharmacists’ knowledge, confidence, and engagement in sleep health management. More than 96% of participants reported gaining new knowledge, and 98% felt more confident discussing sleep health after completing training.

We acknowledge the valuable contributions of the Australasian Sleep Association membership and staff team, the Sleep Health Foundation, Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, University of Sydney, steering committee, stakeholder group, research assistants, presenters and authors, and the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing for their contributions, without which, the success of the QUMISH project would not have been possible.

View the ASA QUMISH project summary

Navigating sleep and shiftwork program

New free program from Black Dog Institute to support shiftworking health professionals.

Shiftwork can take a serious toll on sleep, recovery, and overall wellbeing – especially for those in healthcare. The Essential Network (TEN) has launched Navigating Sleep and Shiftwork, a free online program designed specifically for health professionals. View the flyer

This self-paced series of modules is available 24/7 and offers practical, evidence-based strategies to help manage sleep challenges, improve recovery, and maintain performance across all types of shift schedules.

Learn more and access support: https://bettersleep.blackdoginstitute.org.au/

Advice on avoiding health practitioner scams

• contact people by phone, email, text message, or social media
• try to trick health professionals into sharing personal or business information such as passwords or banking details.

What to look out for
To protect the integrity of Australia’s healthcare system and maintain privacy for yourself and your patients, you are encouraged to watch out for:

• Emails, text messages or social media messages asking you to update or verify your PRODA account information. These may include a link to a fake PRODA sign in page
• Unexpected text messages or phone calls. Scammers may send a text message telling you to expect a call about your PRODA account. They may call you claiming there is suspicious activity or problems with your account
• Anyone asking for access to your accounts or devices.

Best practice for health professionals
You can reduce your risk of being impacted by a scam by:

• Always singing into your PRODA account through servicesaustralia.gov.au/PRODA
• Looking up the Services Australia eBusiness (Medicare) phone line on the Services Australia website before calling
• Using strong passwords and enabling extra security options like digital identity. The best protection is to link your PRODA account with a 'Strong' MyID credential
• Never sharing your account information or giving access to your devices.

More information

• If concerned, you can call Services Australia’s eBusiness (Medicare) line on 1800 700 199 and select Option 1, Monday to Friday, 8 am to 5 pm local time.
• You can report scams impersonating PRODA to Services Australia by emailing a copy of the scam or details of a suspicious phone call to [email protected]
• For further information, visit the Services Australia website at servicesaustralia.gov.au and search ‘scams’.

Download this information as a PDF

Reminder: official ASA email channels

We have become aware of recent scam attempts targeting our community. There have been reports of receiving emails that appear to come from ASA or ASA staff, but are using fake email addresses and are designed to obtain personal information or money. We will only contact you via official ASA email channels.