This book will support the developments in general practice by introducing subjects that influence health care. Although the term practice nurse is used throughout the text, community health care nurse could equally apply as the editors recognize that much of the material covered is valuable to any nurse who works in the discipline of community health. Health itself is multifaceted and the contents of this book have been carefully chosen to serve as an introduction to areas of health care that are likely to be new to the majority of readers. The chapters therefore can be viewed as a comprehen­ sive text but each is sufficiently detailed to accommodate a specific framework for its subject area that should provide the basis for competent working knowledge. Hopefully readers will feel inspired to build on the work in these chapters and there is a wealth of specialized and detailed knowledge available in the colleges of higher education, nursing, medical and public libraries that provides material for further reading.