Pitt Occupational Therapy (OT) Assistant Professor Amy Hartman is an international scholar in sleep health with research focused on supporting sleep health for neurodivergent children and their families.
This past spring semester, she participated in a remarkable webinar supporting Israeli occupational therapists that came together in less than a week and reached over 200 Israeli occupational therapists.
The event was supported by the International Consortium of Sleep-Oriented Occupational Therapists (SleepyOT), a group dedicated to integrating sleep science into OT practice. A colleague of Hartman’s, who practices as an OT in Israel, began reflecting on how displacement and trauma were affecting her clients’ sleep, so she reached out to Hartman for support. Hartman tapped the SleepyOTs and the group mobilized quickly. By Monday morning a conversation had begun, and by Thursday a state health care–sponsored webinar was confirmed. The following Monday afternoon, more than 200 OTs joined the one hour webinar to learn about how to support sleep health for their clients (and themselves) experiencing high stress and displacement.
The presentation was led by colleague Bar Shruber, an occupational therapist with a focus on sleep health in Tel Aviv, Israel, with contributions from the broader SleepyOT group. Hartman led a segment on using sensory-based tasks, such as massage, to regulate the nervous system and support the shift from “fight or flight” to “rest and digest.” It was a powerful demonstration of OTs showing up for their clients even in the midst of their own stress and uncertainty, to support health and wellbeing. OTs can support during large-scale distress, like a political conflict, or close-to-home stress, like navigating daily life after an injury.
In addition to supporting OTs around the world, Hartman shares her expertise of sleep with many other local clinicians and students, including presenting on “Sleep as an Occupation” during a Pitt Occupational Therapy Fieldwork Educator Series special fieldwork feature. She leads the Family Empowerment Lab where she and her team look to empower families in areas of sleep health, emotion regulation and sensory integration. Hartman also teaches classes on sleep, sensory processing across the lifespan, and how to implement research into clinical practice within the Pitt Master of Science and Doctor of Occupational Therapy programs.
Pitt OT is proud to celebrate this kind of thoughtful, responsive and compassionate practice. Well done, Amy!
