In addition to her formal career, Juliet has had a range of voluntary jobs such as Chairman of the Preschool Playgroup Association. Juliet was also employed as an Ofsted Lay School Inspector. Juliet is an avid silver surfer and thoroughly enjoys online shopping and writing emails. She has had rheumatoid arthritis for about 15 years and has also been diagnosed with diabetes, both of which interfere with her sleep.

Valerie often wakes up in the night and can't get back to sleep. This means she will be very tired by the early evening, but will try not to go to bed too early because she doesn't want to waste the evening.

Mike works part-time as a test centre administrator. He has noticed a change in his sleep as he has got older, noticeably that he has periods of deeper sleep, but he doesn't believe he sleeps any longer than he used to. Mike noticed his sleep changed when he first had children, and finds that pattern has continued.

John feels that a good night's sleep for him would be about 7 hours, and the amount of sleep he gets is important to him, even if it is interrupted. Currently John feels he only gets about 5 to 6 hours sleep and would like to get more, but would not seek help from his doctor until he felt lack of sleep impacted on whether he could drive safely. John tries to avoid sleeping during the day because he feels it will impact on how well he sleeps at night.

Carol has noticed her sleep has changed as she has got older. In particular she now finds she has to get up to go to the toilet in the night, sometimes as often as six times, which she finds very disturbing. Now Carol is retired, she finds her days vary from being very full and busy to having little planned, and she wonders whether she doesn't sleep so well on the days when she has been less active.

Peter sometimes finds it difficult to get to sleep and stay asleep because of a shoulder injury and lower back pain. He only very occasionally dozes off during the day, but sometimes might if he has been active, or has gone for a long run. Peter feels that there are times in his life when he has more to worry about, and this will most likely affect how he sleeps.

Fred often finds it difficult to get to sleep. He also finds that if he wakes up in the night he finds it takes a long time to get back to sleep. Sometimes he comes downstairs and has a cigarette in the back garden before trying to go back up and get to sleep. Fred noticed his sleep changed after he retired and feels this may be because he isn't quite as active.

Richard is a part-time member of an employment tribunal, a job he has been doing for several years. He likes to remain busy and active, and thinks it is important to keep himself occupied. A few years ago he had a stroke, and is also a diabetic, and he believes this is when his sleeping problems started.

Christopher is married with three children, and is a retired airline consultant. Christopher did retire at one point, but then was asked to return to work for a while, although he is now completely retired. He is now a volunteer at the local hospital. Christopher was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease a few years previously and also has severe back problems, but he still likes to keep fit and active and regularly visits the gym.

Jacqui lives with her partner and works part-time as a care worker. She slept well as a child, but noticed a dramatic change in her sleep when she became a stewardess, and when she got married. She believes the different shifts she worked and jet lag caused a change in her sleeping pattern. Eventually she went to the doctor for some mild sleeping tablets, which she took occasionally over the years. Currently Jacqui is sleeping much better and has not taken any sleeping tablets for a few years.