Otto has been widowed for four years and has 2 children and one grandchild. Otto is a retired design engineer and was in the RAF during the second world war. Otto likes to keep active by walking a lot and also has an exercise bicycle. His main problems with sleep are that he finds he has to get up in the night to go to the toilet, and then finds he can't get back to sleep, usually because he finds thoughts and worries go round and round his head.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Daphne has been retired for a few years, but has had a variety of very interesting professions, such as officer in the WAAF, fashion model and actress. On the whole she finds she sleeps well, but would like to have more than the five or six hours she currently has. Daphne believes sleep is very important, but would only really be concerned if she felt she couldn't get to sleep.

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.

Les has had several very interesting and different jobs in his lifetime, ranging from being in the army, to being a theatre manager, working in the Sudan, and being a driver. He only retired finally when he was 80. Les has several health problems which contribute to making his sleep very disturbed, but he won't let his poor sleep affect what he does during the day.

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.

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.