Community Guidelines (updated 2024)

[Holly_ALUK]

The minimum age will now be 18 years in order to comply with the new legislation from the Information Commissioner's Office

In general please post what you feel to be useful, accurate and constructive information or questions related to Asthma. It is impossible for Asthma and Lung UK (ALUK), or HealthUnlocked to confirm the validity of all posts in this community. Posts reflect the views and opinion of the author, not those of ALUK. If you feel that a post or message is questionable, you can notify an administrator of this forum using the 'report' button under each post.

Our community is a harmonious and respectful place. By being here you agree not to post any abusive, vulgar, obscene, hateful, slanderous, threatening, sexually-oriented or any other material that may violate any applicable laws. Doing so will lead to you being permanently restricted from this community and banned from HealthUnlocked. Note that all IP addresses are logged.

Content that members post on this forum is moderated by A+LUK and HU. Moderation helps maintain positive and open discussion. Moderators may delete any post or reply. Any comments/posts deleted by the moderators must not be re-posted or discussed in another post. You agree that the ALUK and HealthUnlocked have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic at any time should they see fit. Decisions made by the moderator are final. Moderators may but not always contact a member to inform them their contribution has been moderated or removed but will not enter into discussions with members about action taken or not taken. Neither A+LUK nor HU is responsible for any injury or offence that a member may draw from another member's content.

Online Safety:

In this community, there may be discussions of health-related issues and sharing of personal information.

Please note that the ALUK Community is an open site, meaning that any posts are searchable by internet search engines and can be shared via social media platforms. The default setting of posts allows them to be visible to individuals who are not members of the community. If you would rather your content was not searchable, you can change the visibility of your post by selecting "Only community members" before clicking submit. This will result in only the post title and first line of text being visible to those who are not members of the community. However, doing this will limit the number of people who will find and benefit from the information you have shared. We suggest members leave posts open for everyone to find if they are comfortable doing so to ensure more people find communities and benefit from the wealth of information on HealthUnlocked.

For your own safety, you should not disclose personal information such as your full name, email address, home address, telephone number, or any other information which could directly or indirectly identify you.

For more information on general online safety guidelines please visit: ico.org.uk/your-data-matter...

Forum rules of engagement:

These house rules help protect users and allow you to get the most out of the forum.

By registering for our website and taking part in the discussions on the forums you agree to:

•Keep your messages civil, tasteful and relevant.

•Maintain respect for other people

•Post your message under the relevant thread

•Use only one account to access the message boards - users creating multiple accounts will be suspended

•Be sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of others - something that you may consider acceptable may be offensive to others

•Be aware that protocols for managing asthma and dealing with acute exacerbation's may vary vastly, particularly at the severe end of the spectrum- if your protocol is unusual, please exercise caution and judgement in posting about it to avoid giving others the impression that it is safe for them to behave in a similar way.

•The information posted on HealthUnlocked can support, but will not replace the relationship between you and your doctor or any other healthcare professionals. Information from this site may inform your discussions as well as the exploration of treatment options with your healthcare professionals. You should always consult a healthcare professional if considering changing your medication or treatment. Therefore please do not try to persuade users that medications or treatments are harmful based on personal and anecdotal evidence.

•Read your posts before submitting them to the forum, considering the above point - writing on message boards is different to the spoken word, and a simple written comment may be unintentionally offensive to others

•Be patient and considerate of message board users who may be less able than you. Don't assume everyone has the same knowledge level of asthma as you do.

•Avoid using "text speak" in your posts, as this can prove extremely difficult for users with dyslexia to understand

•Remember that boards are read by many different people of different ages and backgrounds; there may be children, the press, MPs and potential charity supporters accessing and reading - please ensure that your message is appropriate for anyone to read.

And you agree not to:

•Use obscenity or insults - this will instigate an immediate ban from the forum

•'Flame' or attack people individually- this will instigate an immediate ban from the forum

•Post about political matters

•Post about pharmaceutical companies in a derogatory manner or to defame

•Post your message multiple times or under different subtopics

•Publish email addresses, phone numbers, or other contact details in posts

•Allow other people to post to the forum using your account

•Post any SPAM , advertising commercial products or services: these will be deleted. Additionally we discourage the use of blogs, vlogs.

•Post messages promoting any product that claims to cure asthma or reduce asthma symptoms or complementary or alternative therapies. Any such post will be removed immediately by the moderator.

•Use the private messaging service to send multiple copies of the same message

•Use the private messaging service to harass other members with your own health needs or be abusive. Profile's can be reported by the recipient if this occurs. The same forum rules therefore apply to private messaging.

•Post messages merely to tell everyone how ill you are: this is disrespectful to other message board users and goes against the nature of using the message board as a discussion forum

•Post messages to ask for participants for ANY research (such as petitions/surveys), be it asthma-related or not. The forum is for peer-to-peer support only. (ALUK may use the platform from time to time to post research-type requests).

•ALUK's forums are for debate and discussion. They are not a suitable place to obtain medical advice in an emergency. If you feel unwell or need advice in an emergency situation, help should be obtained from one of the following sources:

Your local GP service - either your surgery, or, if closed, the local out-of-hours centre; some regions also have NHS Walk-In Centres

Dialing 999 for an emergency ambulance, or by going to your local Accident & Emergency department.

ALUK's own guidance for what to do in an asthma attack.

Any posts made requesting emergency advice will be removed so as to avoid causing upset to other message board users.

•Opinions expressed in the forums are users' own, not those of ALUK, and are in no way a substitute for medical advice.

For the benefit of all users we operate a warning system for behavior that does not adhere to the above rules. Warnings will be issued by a moderator, via the private messaging system. If you receive three warnings your access to the message boards will be suspended. You will need to contact ALUK to ask them to consider reinstating your account in this instance.

High-risk or self-harm content:

Although an incredible level of support and advice exists in this community, it is anonymous, online and not professional in nature. In a critical situation, anonymous online advice carries the risk of misjudgment and harm, however well intentioned. We therefore will take down any posts of this nature and will contact the member privately with support in these situations.

Please report any such content as it helps us to respond in a timely manner.

Registering:

To post in the forums you must register for a HealthUnlocked account and supply an email address. ALUK will not pass this on to any third party.

•Remember people on the internet may not be who they say they are

•Do not reveal any personal information about yourself (for example: your telephone number, home address or email address)

•Do not arrange to meet up with people you talk to on the internet

International Members:

All the advice & support provided by the ALUK nurses here is based on guidelines published for the UK only.

As Asthma diagnosis, treatment and medication can vary considerably from country to country, we are unable to respond directly to your query and would advise that you to seek advice from a healthcare provider where you live.

We are unable to comment on specific asthma treatments/medicines, but general information can be found on our website.

Copyright and editing:

Information copyrighted or owned by any individual or entity other than the member should not be posted on the discussion forum without the consent of the owner. You may not violate, plagiarise, or infringe on the rights of third parties including copyright, trademark, trade secret, privacy, personal, publicity, or proprietary rights. If such an event occurs, the individual posting the information shall be held solely responsible. ALUK shall not be held responsible for member-posted information that may violate copyright law.

ALUK reserves the right to edit or remove a post which does not meet with the criteria outlined above and to ban any member of the forum.

ALUK complies with the 1998 Data Protection Act.

If you have any concerns about posts or users in the forums, contact [e-mail]

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