Sarah Cowley worked in practice, first as a nurse then a health visitor, for 25 years, before joining the academic staff of King’s College London in 1992. She was appointed as Professor of Community Practice Development five years later and retired in 2012.

Sarah has published widely, mainly to report research projects that reflect her professional background in health visiting and interest in public health and positive health, especially in relation to needs assessment, families and the social environment. She is currently co-leader of a large research workstream to support the ‘Call for Action: Health Visitor Implementation Plan 2011-2015’ in the National Nursing Research Unit at King’s. Sarah co-authored an update of the ‘Principles of Health Visiting’ and the second edition of her book about Community Public Health in Policy and Practice is based on the standards for the SPCPHN register.