Jenny Douglas is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Health & Social Care at The Open University. She has a background in health promotion and public health and her research interests include ′race′, ethnicity, gender and health; inequalities in health; and young people and cigarette smoking. She has recently co-edited three books on health promotion: Promoting Health: Knowledge and Practice (Basingstoke, Palgrave/Open University 2000), Promoting Health: Exploration and Action (Basingstoke, Palgrave/Open University 2002), and Debates and Dilemmas in Promoting Health (Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan/Open University 2003).

Sarah Earle is a Senior Lecturer in Health and Social Care and Assistant Director of the Health and Social Care Programme. Her background is in medical sociology and her main research interests include the study of human reproduction, women′s health and sexuality. Sarah is Convenor of the British Sociological Association′s Human Reproduction Study Group.

Stephen Handsley is a Lecturer in Health and Social Care at The Open University. He has a background in medical sociology and his key research interests include the sociology of death and mourning, sociology as applied to healthcare and health and social care education, the sociology of religion, the use of qualitative research methods in health and social care and urban regeneration and renewal. Recent publications include: "But What About Us?" The residual effects of sudden death on self-identity and family relationships (Mortality, 2002).

Linda Jones is Professor of Health in the Faculty of Health and Social Care and Director of the Open University-Royal College of Nursing Strategic Alliance. Her academic background is in social policy and public health. Her major research focus is on the impact of transport and environment on health, especially in relation to vulnerable groups.

Cathy E. Lloyd is a Senior Lecturer in Health & Social Care at The Open University. She has a background in public health and epidemiology, with particular interests in psychological factors and diabetes. Previously at The Open University she has co-written a second level course Working for Health, a first level course Diabetes Care, and pre-registration nursing courses in mental health and adult nursing. Recent publications include Cross-cultural comparisons of anxiety and depression in adults with type 1 diabetes. (Diabetes Metabolism Research and Reviews 2003), Stress and Diabetes: A Review of the Links (Diabetes Spectrum 2005). She is co-editor of Working for Health (Sage 2001).

Sue Spurr is a Course Manager in the Faculty of Health and Social Care at The Open University and has contributed to a wide range of course materials associated with health and social care. She has co-edited Perspectives in Complementary and Alternative Medicine and its associated Reader (Routledge, 2005) and also Understanding Care, Welfare and Community: A Reader (Routledge, 2002).