An Introduction to Community and Primary Health Care

Diana Guzys is a lecturer at La Trobe University, Victoria. Since commencing her role at the University, Diana has completed a Masters of Nursing and is currently a Ph.D. candidate. After relocating to a rural environment and taking up a community health nursing role, Diana embraced a change in her professional practice and career direction. Health education and health promotion were the mainstay of her practice for over two decades, first as a generalist community health nurse and later as a secondary school nurse. Her current research focus demonstrates a return to seeking ways to improve and optimise the health of rural communities.

Rhonda Brown is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Deakin University, Victoria. She is an experienced clinician and educator with a background in community and mental health nursing, family therapy, counselling, tertiary and community education. Rhonda teaches at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and is Course Director for the Graduate Certificate in Diabetes Education. Rhonda's research primarily focuses on the physical and mental health outcomes of people of diverse sexuality including projects investigating cancer among lesbian and bisexual women, smoking in the GLBT community and alcohol and mental health of sexual minority women. Dr Brown is interested in developing strategies and interventions that promote the health and address the physical and mental health disparities among marginalised population groups.

Elizabeth Halcomb RN B.N.(Hons) FACN Ph.D. is Professor of Primary Health Care Nursing at the University of Wollongong, Australia. She is an experienced academic nurse leader who is committed to developing researchers in both academia and the clinical setting. Professor Halcomb leads a strong research program in primary care nursing, with particular emphasis on nursing in general practice, chronic disease and nursing workforce issues. She also undertakes research around learning and teaching in nursing, academic workforce development and research methodology. Professor Halcomb has particular interests in mixed methods research and evidence based practice.

Dean Whitehead is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Flinders University. He has published over 150 theoretical/research papers and received the Emerald LiteratiNetwork 'Highly Commended Award for Excellence' for work in this area. He sits on several international Executive Editorial/Advisory Journal Boards, including the Journal of Clinical Nursing, Nurse Education Today, International Journal of Orthopaedic and Trauma Nursing and ISRN – Nursing (International Scholarly Research Network). He is also an Associate Editor for The Open Nursing Journal. His current research focus is with several New Zealand and Australian-based health promotion projects that investigate the assessment of issues related to settings-based health promotion networks.