It’s pyjama day every day this Sleep Health Week

Owner and pharmacist at the pharmacies, Clint Flanigan, said it had been an effective way to mark the week, an initiative they had participated in for the past four or five years.

“Lots of places run health promotion weeks, and the whole purpose is to get people to think about the reason you’re doing it for and stimulate a conversation,” he said.

“This does it better than any other health promotion week.

“Ninety-nine per cent of people walk in and go, ‘this is strange... what are you doing?’ then you can pivot that.”

He found that many customers appreciated their commitment to the cause, while others had had the initial conversation about their sleep health.

Concerns like insomnia, poor sleep quality and sleep apnoea have been raised.

“The vast majority of people will go, ‘oh that’s great’,” Mr Flanigan said.

“Or you’ll get one in two or three who say, ‘I sleep horribly’ or ‘my husband sleeps horribly’.

“It’s actually quite successful.”

Meninya Street and Moama Village pharmacies have a sleep apnoea clinic that is accessible to customers with sleep issues.

“From that, we either then screen persons who are a high risk for that and refer them back to their general practitioner,” Mr Flanigan said.

“For persons that are suffering from insomnia, that’s either then a non-medication-based discussion or a referral back to their general practitioner.”

Given the challenges of booking doctor appointments in regional areas, Mr Flanigan advises starting with a pharmacy visit, especially for sleep health concerns.

“At the moment, accessibility to general practitioners in this town is quite difficult, certainly not through their fault but through the nature of the beast in regional areas,” he said.

“For that point, a pharmacy is a useful initial first port-of-call. Most of them are open seven days, most are fairly accessible, most are appointment-free.

“If anything is more complex, then it will be a referral back to their general practitioner.”