"Let’s Yarn About Sleep" (LYAS) is a consumer-centric sleep health initiative dedicated to achieving sleep health equity through community leadership, integrating diverse worldviews, and building local capacity. This collaborative approach ensures that all stakeholders are part of the solution, fostering ownership, inclusion, and shared responsibility.

In this webinar, part of the International PPI Network: Learning Live webinar series, the presenters explored the origins of "Let’s Yarn About Sleep", reflected on the program's progress, and presented the community engagement framework to promote best practices in community-based research.

The LYAS program is developed in close collaboration with community members and service providers, ensuring culturally appropriate and effective solutions. It is deeply rooted in community engagement and guided by community elders.

The program involves consumers, hospitals, health services, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organizations, First Nations health and wellbeing services, and leading advocacy groups. The program's innovation lies in empowering end-users, privileging First Nations voices, integrating interdisciplinary expertise, and employing diverse research methodologies. Key achievements include Australia's first Indigenous Sleep Coach training, creating research roles for community members, training and upskilling the health workforce, developing service delivery models, and integrating sleep health programs in remote schools and health services.

The webinar was aimed at anyone interested in patient and public involvement and community engagement. It was delivered in August 2024 and below you will find the video from the webinar, together with accompanying slides to download [PDF].

Presenter bios

Associate Professor Yaqoot Fatima is a social epidemiologist, sleep scientist, and specialist in co-designing First Nations sleep health programs and services. Her research is dedicated to advancing sleep health equity in First Nations communities through multidisciplinary and translational research and co-designed initiatives. Professor Fatima leads the "Let’s Yarn About Sleep" (LYAS) program. The LYAS program, developed in partnership with community members and service providers, is revolutionising sleep health care for First Nations communities by enhancing local capacity, empowering end-users, and creating place-based service models.

Wayne Willams, a proud Wakka Wakka Man, is an expert in incorporating First Nations perspectives and methodologies into health research. His work primarily involves integrating First Nations worldviews, ways of knowing, and evaluative frameworks into studies on First Nations health and well-being. Mr Williams is the academic lead for Indigenous Health Education at the Rural Clinical School in Toowoomba. He oversees the Indigenous Health and History component of the Rural and Remote Medicine program at the University of Queensland. His efforts are centred on embedding First Nations knowledge as a vital part of higher medical education and promoting constructive relationships between First Nations communities and the medical profession.