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HealthUnlocked Community Guidelines

The CLL Support Association (CLL Support) HealthUnlocked (HU) community supports those affected by a diagnosis of CLL, their friends, families, loved ones and carers.


Membership is for the above group and qualified professionals allied to the area of blood cancers. The group is moderated by volunteers from the CLL Support Association.


Members of The CLL Support HU community should read the Guidelines below which cover the whole of the HU site including the Posts and Messages in conjunction with community use guidelines below. By using The CL Support HU community you are accepting these posting guidelines and agree to the HealthUnlocked’s site Guidelines and HealthUnlocked’s Terms of Use.

The CLL Support HU community is an open site, this means that any ‘open’ Posts are ‘searchable’ via any Internet search engine and can also be shared on Facebook and/or Twitter. If you would rather your content was not ‘searchable’ and/or ‘Shareable’, make sure you select the visibility status of your post as visible to ‘Community’ only BEFORE you click submit. If you go back and change it later, the Post may still be ‘searchable’ for a short period.
For your own safety, you should not disclose personal information such as your e-mail address, home address or telephone number (or any other information which could identify you indirectly) on The CLL SUPPORT HU community. More information is available in the Pinned Post ‘Online Security starts with YOU! here.

CLL Support HealthUnlocked Community Posting Guidelines

These posting guidelines for the UK Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia Support Association’s (CLLSA’s) online patient forum at HealthUnlocked (HU) are additional to those found in the HealthUnlocked (HU) Terms of Use along with the HealthUnlocked Guidelines.

We encourage you to review the HU Terms of Use, Community Guidelines and these CLLSA HU Community Posting Guidelines periodically, to check you understand the latest versions.  Continued use of CLLSA HU is deemed to be your acceptance of any changes to this document and the above references.  If you are not happy with any amendments, you should stop using HealthUnlocked and/or the CLLSA HU community, as appropriate.

  1. The aim of The CLLSA HU community is to provide a safe and friendly environment where users can share information and offer mutual support for those affected by Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia/Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma (CLL/SLL, hereafter just CLL) and their carers and is for users who are 16 years and older only.
  2. Your use of The CLLSA HU community is entirely at your own risk and people posting and/or answering on the site must not be assumed to be health professionals of any type.
  3. Please be aware that because of the nature of CLL, users need to be mindful and respectful of any content which may cause upset or offend fellow users.  Such content may be removed at the discretion of the admin team.
  4. All posts and messages placed on The CLLSA HU community are the opinion of the author and are not the views and opinions of the CLL Support Association. Posts, Answers and Comments posted on the website should be intended to support members and not replace medical advice.   
  5.  Posts must not be over lengthy and a word limit of 2,500 words (approx. 1 A4 side ) is suggested.  Over-long posts may be edited or deleted by the admin team or the poster may asked to edit, at the discretion of the admin team.
  6. We hope that users will respect the right of other members to present their individual health experiences, regardless of whether or not they are in agreement, and that all disagreements will be expressed considerately.
  7. You must not post any information or use HU features in a way that may be invasive of another’s privacy or violate the rights of any other user, or of any other third party in any way.
  8. All members must conduct themselves, at all times with regard to all users, with respect, tact and honesty. You are responsible for the content of the messages you post and any consequences that flow from such posting(s).  We want all members to feel safe and comfortable posting here. In order to ensure that happens, any post or comment which causes distress, alarm, offence or harassment to any other person, whether intended or not, may be removed at the discretion of the admin team.
  9. Please do not post any information that is knowingly untrue, a misrepresentation, unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, vulgar, profane, obscene, that may cause personal distress, offensive, defamatory, false, libellous, hateful, disrespectful, racially, sexually or otherwise discriminatory, confidential and/or commercially sensitive or post any information that is otherwise (at the absolute discretion of the CLL Support Association) objectionable.  Such content will be removed at the discretion of the admin team.
  10. Do not name, shame or be critical of identifiable individuals, including other forum members and members of the Admin team either on the CLLSA HU site or any other form of social media. Names/comments will be edited and/or deleted at the discretion of the CLLSA HU community administrators.
  11. Messages that are critical of individuals or health professionals, specific treatments, services or treatment units will be removed. This is to ensure that others are not discouraged from getting the help they need.
  12. Whilst religious well wishes are permitted, please do not proselytise oruse religious text or quotations in your posts.  Likewise do not post content of a political nature. Doing so is always divisive and contentious and everyone on the site must feel welcome regardless of their religious or political beliefs. Do not post links to religious or political sites. Such content may be removed at the discretion of the admin team.
  13. Please do not promote the use of alternative treatments, as opposed to complementary therapies. Alternative treatments may deter members from seeking appropriate professional medical assistance.
  14. It is understood that whilst diagnoses, symptoms, conditions and treatments may be subject to speculation and experiential sharing between members, posts must never intend or be construed as giving definite medical or treatment advice. No advice given on the site can be viewed as an alternative to that provided by a member’s professional medical team.
  15. Posts must not impersonate any person or entity, or misrepresent your association with a person or entity.  This includes overuse of the word ‘we’.  If it is your opinion then state it as such and not as a collective ‘we’.
  16. As a user you must be aware that there will be constant monitoring of The CLLSA HU community. Any messages which users deem to be unacceptable will be removed at the sole discretion of CLLSA HU community administrators.
  17. The CLLSA HU community administrators reserve the right to delete any Post or Comment they judge inappropriate without notifying the author. The member may be informed of the reason the content was deleted and invited to rewrite it.
  18. The CLLSA HU community Admin team reserves the right to restrict any member to ‘read only’. An explanation may be provided via message. Anyone who persistently posts unacceptable messages that contravene these guidelines may be permanently excluded from using this service at the sole discretion of the CLLSA HU community administrators.
  19. If you post a link, please at least explain briefly what people can expect to find if they follow the link. Links without such an introduction/explanation may be deleted.
  20. The CLL Support Association cannot be held responsible for the content of external websites and such links may be deleted if felt to be inappropriate.
  21. Do not solicit members to other websites or forums for your own purposes, including marketing of books or other items, either via posts or the messages system.
  22. Please show a clear distinction between personal experience or opinion and evidence-based information.  Theories or supposition which are not supported by evidence – i.e. a link to that evidence, must be made clear that it is personal conjecture and not fact.  
  23. Do not breach copyright rules by placing documents onto the forum unless you have permission from the author of the document. You can, however, post excerpts with links to the full text of the document. Do not violate, plagiarise, or infringe on the rights of third parties including copyright, trademarks, trade secrets, privacy, personal, publicity or proprietary rights.
  24. The CLL Support Association reserve the right to remove references to films, television programmes, books, newspapers, magazines etc. which we do not believe are appropriate for The CLLSA HU community.
  25. Spamming or advertising IS NOT ALLOWED. You must not promote or endorse any business or commercial goods. Any Post or Comment considered to be advertising may be edited and/or deleted at the discretion of CLLSA HU community administrators.
  26. The CLL Support Association will not be liable for any errors or omissions in any postings or for any loss or damage incurred as a result of the use of any information contained in the CLLSA HU community.
  27. The CLL Support Association makes no guarantee or gives warranty of any kind whatsoever (whether express or implied) in relation to your use of the CLLSA HU community or any use by third parties.
  28. The CLL Support Association cannot be held responsible for the content of ‘Private Messages’ or the outcome of any action taken as a result of any such message. The messaging system is private and cannot be accessed by the CLLSA HU community administrators.  If members choose to make contact via email, telephone or in person, The CLL Support Association cannot be held responsible for the outcome.
  29. The CLL Support Association shall not be liable for any loss or damage (whether direct, indirect, consequential, financial or otherwise) arising from the use of (or in connection with) The CLLSA HU community.
  30. CLL Support Association cannot be held responsible for any discussions regarding self-treatment or the outcome of any such discussions.
  31. Members that wish to express their dissatisfaction with any administrative aspects of the site should raise their concerns with a member or members of the admin team and not via a post or comment on the site.  Any such content on the site may be removed at the discretion of the admin team. 
  32. Please report any abusive or inappropriate Posts, Comments or Private Messages. Posts and comments (replies) can be reported to the community admins by clicking on the boxed ‘More v’ under the post or comment. Private Messages can be reported to HU support by clicking on the boxed ‘More v’ top right of the message.
  33. Any Post or Comment which appears to be asking for money, except for fund-raising for CLL Support Association, will be edited and/or deleted at the discretion of the of CLLSA HU community administrators.
  34. Media requests, survey requests, requests seeking academic or market research information, must be made to the CLL Support Association . Such posts are not permitted directly to The CLLSA HU community without the explicit approval of the CLL Support Association.
  35. The CLL Support Association does not pass any information on about its users.
  36. If an account is suspected of violating any of these guidelines as stated above, particularly in the instance of bullying or spamming, that member’s account may be restricted or banned.

(Reviewed May 2020)