Sleep easy with complementary medicines
Tracks
Track 3
Friday, August 1, 2025 |
3:20 PM - 4:20 PM |
C2.5 + C2.6 |
Sponsored By: |
Details
Nearly half (48%) of Australian adults report at least two sleep-related problems, highlighting the need for effective and accessible sleep health solutions (AIHW). Complementary medicines and lifestyle interventions are increasingly being used to support sleep quality and overall well-being. This session will explore the evidence behind these approaches, their role in sleep management, and how pharmacists can provide guidance on their safe and effective use.
Learning objectives
- Identify common sleep-related conditions affecting Australians.
- Discuss the evidence supporting complementary medicines in sleep management.
- Describe the role of lifestyle interventions in improving sleep quality.
Competency standards (2016): 3.1, 3.5, 3.6
Speakers
A/Prof Joanna Harnett
Academic - Associate Professor Complementary Medicines
University of Sydney
Sleep easy with complementary medicines
Biography
Dr Joanna Harnett is a naturopath and Associate Professor (Complementary Medicines) at the University of Sydney Faculty of Medicine and Health. She holds a PhD (Nutritional Pharmacology), Bachelor of Health Science (Complementary Medicine - Naturopathy), Master Health Science (Complementary medicine), Graduate Diploma in Clinical Nutrition, and Grad Cert Educational Studies (Higher Education). Her research focuses on quality use of complementary medicines, and conducting clinical studies in gastrointestinal health. She is current board member of the International Society for Complementary, Traditional and Integrative Medicine Research and serves on the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration Advisory Committee Complementary Medicines.
Prof Bandana Saini
Professor
University of Sydney
Sleep easy with complementary medicines
Biography
Professor Bandana Saini is a high throughput researcher based in the Sydney Pharmacy School, Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney. She is also a Research Leader and affiliate staff at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, Macquarie University.
She is a passionate educator, an implementation scientist, asthma educator and community pharmacist. She has developed, implemented and evaluated several successful pharmacy-based service trials in respiratory and sleep health, which have changed respiratory health care in Australian pharmacy practice. Over her career, she has secured AUD 27 million in competitive funding as an investigator and authored over 200 research publications.
She has also led, supervised, and collaborated in respiratory research in international settings, including Cambodia, Finland, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, with an interest to develop and evaluate primary care health models for respiratory disease in varied health systems and socio-cultural settings.
