Sleep deprivation is a silent epidemic. Since the invention of the light bulb, we have obtained less sleep than our ancestors, prioritizing work, school, socializing, sports, screen time – just about everything – over sleep. Sleep is viewed as compressible, something that can be made up at any time, but rarely is. Most believe this poses little risk. Unfortunately, they could not be more wrong.

The truth is, an adequate amount of good-quality sleep is critical to good health. Lack of sleep leads to deadly crashes, reduces productivity, and harms quality of life. Insufficient or disordered sleep can increase risk for ADHD, depression, heart attack, stroke, arrhythmia, heart failure, and early death.

This Teach-Out can be your first step in doing something about sleep deprivation. Learn how sleep works, why it is important, and what bad sleep habits are. Hear solutions you can start tonight to sleep better for the rest of your life. Understand strategies to help family and friends improve their sleep. Learn to advocate for the sleep health of your community. This Teach-Out is intended to connect learners worldwide to the University of Michigan in conversation around sleep deprivation.

A Teach-Out is:

-an event – it takes place over a fixed, short period of time

-an opportunity – it is open for free participation to everyone around the world

-a community – it will be joined by a large number of diverse individuals

-a conversation – an opportunity to give and take ideas and information from people

The University of Michigan Teach-Out Series provides just-in-time community learning events for participants around the world to come together in conversation with the U-M campus community, including faculty experts. The U-M Teach-Out Series is part of our deep commitment to engage the public in exploring and understanding the problems, events, and phenomena most important to society.

Teach-Outs are short learning experiences, each focused on a specific current issue. Attendees will come together over a few days not only to learn about a subject or event but also to gain skills. Teach-Outs are open to the world and are designed to bring together individuals with wide-ranging perspectives in respectful and deep conversation. These events are an opportunity for diverse learners and a multitude of experts to come together to ask questions of one another and explore new solutions to the pressing concerns of our global community. Come, join the conversation!

Find new opportunities at teach-out.org.