Are the nras & nras.healthunlocked the same.

[Franbie]

I am confused (easy to do). I am wondering are nras & nras.healthunlocked all one support group? Only when I put the search nras into google both come up with separate websites.They look the same, the tag nras is the same on both sites.

Franbie.

[helixhelix]

NRAS is the umbrella organisation, and those who pay the membership also have access to their members only forum. However, they also get involved in the administration of the Healthunlocked site is free to all, so serves a slightly different function and also draws in people from outside the UK which is interesting for all of us. Lots of people get a bit confused, and some use both sites happily, others prefer one or the other. But essentially there's enough RA around to mean that the more help the better as far as I'm concerned!

[Franbie in reply to helixhelix]

Thanks very much for the reply. I agree the more help the better.

[earthwitch]

Healthunlocked also has message boards for completely different conditions as well, and the RA one is just one of those.

[Franbie]

Thanks earthwich. I will have a look at it.

[Victoria-NRAS Partner Moderator NRAS]

Hi all

Sorry to see that there is some confusion about this. We are hoping that at some stage changes will be made to the HU site so that pages include links to our website (the NRAS website), which will hopefully make it clearer that we are a separate organisation, with our own website, but in the meantime I will try to clear things up.

NRAS (National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society) is a charity that has been around since 2001. As a chairty we offer information and support for people with RA, raise awareness of the condition and campaign on behalf of people with RA. Our website includes a lot of information on RA in the form of articles and booklets, which are available for anyone to read.

HealthUnlocked are a completely separate organisation. They run this site, which as Earthwitch has said has lots of different communities, one of which is for people with RA. All of these communities are run in conjunction with charities such as ourselves, so we (NRAS) run and moderate the RA HU community along with HealthUnlocked.

We are aware that there has been some confusion about this, as we have sometimes had calls from people who have joined HU and have described themselves to us as NRAS members or volunteers, yet when we check our database we have no record of them.

Our hope is that people will use the NRAS section on the HU site to share experiences with/get valuable support from people living with this condition, but that they will also find the NRAS website useful, particularly for information related to RA. We also have a helpline team, available by telephone or email (Mon-Fri, 9.30-4.30 on 0800 298 7650 or [e-mail]) and people can pay to join NRAS as a member, which would give them access to the members' forum, as well as our NRAS magazine, which comes out 3 times a year.

Many people who use the NRAS HU forum are also NRAS members, but this forum is open to anyone, whether they are members or not.

I hope that helps to explain the difference.

Kind regards

Victoria

(NRAS Helpline & Information Coordinator)

[Franbie in reply to Victoria-NRAS]

Thanks Victoria,

Very helpful information, explains the difference well.

Franbie