Jim has been retired for several years, but is still very active and likes to work in the garden. He does suffer from diabetes and this has affected his health and his sleep. He finds he has to be careful to carry sugar with him, and think about when he should be eating and drinking. Occasionally he has problems during the night caused by his diabetes.

Daniel is a retired social worker, having spent a large part of his working life with children and teenagers. He was diagnosed with sleep apnoea when his snoring at night was making him feel very drowsy during the day. His sleep is quite broken at night, and he often finds he dozes off during the day.

Margaret is a retired Day Centre Manager and formerly a social worker. She spent long periods of her childhood in hospital where part of the routine was to put children outside in the fresh air. Margaret believes this still influences her now as she likes to wake up to daylight in her room. Margaret noticed her sleep started to worsen about 10-15 years ago, and used to worry about not having enough sleep, but has now found a way to cope and feels content with the amount of sleep she gets.

Anne is married and has three children, and six grandchildren. Anne retired from teaching some years ago and now works hard at keeping active, particularly enjoying spending lots of time in her garden. Anne feels that sleep is a waste of time and would much rather have more time to do the things she enjoys doing, such as writing and doing research.

William lives with his partner and has been retired for about 14 years. He likes to keep active by swimming four days a week and going to a gym class one day a week. He also attends art classes and is a member of a local literature club. William has noticed a change in his sleep over the last couple of years in that he finds he is having very vivid and sometimes difficult dreams. He notices he also has to get up now in the night because of cramp or to go to the toilet, which he never used to do.

Frank retired as a Practice Manager in his 70th year. He likes to keep very active and has had a keen interest in playing bowls for many years. At the time of his interview, Frank felt he was sleeping well, but there have been occasions in his life when he has had some problems sleeping. He is very easy going and tries not to let things worry him too much, but does know that if he has some worries it may affect his sleep.