Black Dog Institute

The issue

Research shows more than 80% of adolescents don’t get the recommended 8-10 hours of sleep each night, and 40% will experience significant sleep problems by high school. Sleep problems alone lead to fatigue, daytime tiredness, and cognitive difficulties and are a significant risk factor for the onset of mental health problems, specifically depression in young people.

The project

Sleep Ninja is an evidence-based digital intervention for adolescent sleep problems with the aim to get it into the hands of those who need it most. Amongst many features, the app delivers Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia which is the gold-standard treatment for insomnia and sleep disturbance. 

Through their partnership with nib foundation, Black Dog Institute will develop a comprehensive implementation strategy to identify how Sleep Ninja can have the greatest impact in the real world, including identifying how to embed the app in existing health, psychology and education services so more young Aussies access Sleep Ninja. 

The impact

Sleep Ninja empowers young people across Australia to adopt healthy sleep behaviours and maintain and improve their wellbeing. By delivering an easily accessible, effective digital intervention for adolescents’ mental health, they aim to reduce the burden on the mental health system and help to address the inequalities experienced when accessing mental health care in regional areas compared to metropolitan areas.