Terms of Use

About This Community

This community is moderated by Royal Osteoporosis Society and focuses on bone health, osteoporosis and related conditions. These Terms of Use should be read in conjunction with the Community Guidelines, which contain further information on acceptable behaviour. By using this community, you accept these Terms of Use, including the Community Guidelines.

Medical Advice and Health Information

This community promotes sharing of useful health information and peer support - it’s not for medical diagnosis or advice. Never delay seeking medical help because of something you’ve read here.

If you need medical advice:

  • Consult a healthcare professional for personal bone health assessment and treatment options

  • For immediate medical advice (UK): contact your healthcare professional or NHS 111

  • For emergencies: Contact 999 (or your local emergency services number if outside of the UK)

Note: The ROS is a UK-based charity, which is reflected in ROS health information and moderation practices. Approved medicines, treatment protocols, and healthcare details may differ by location and should always be verified for your specific area.

Reliable information:

  • Individual research studies or new findings can be interesting, but one study alone—even in a respected journal—does not reflect the full picture of what all available research shows.

  • Many posts talk about medicines. Because forums are places for support, people often post about worries or negative experiences, which can make these discussions seem more negative than most people actually experience. Positive or neutral experiences are shared less often. For reliable information about osteoporosis medicines: https://theros.org.uk/information-and-support/osteoporosis/treatment/

Al-Generated Health Information:

  • AI-generated health summaries (e.g., from search engines or chatbots) can seem helpful but may not always be accurate, complete, or up to date. These should be approached with care.

  • If you share information generated by AI, please make it clear to others that it comes from an AI source.

  • For reliable, up-to-date health information, please refer to trusted sources such as the Royal Osteoporosis Society (ROS) and NHS websites.

Posting Content and Staying Safe

For any technical support with the forum directly message the ROS Moderator account, or email: forum@theros.org.uk

Your posts:

  • Should be true, accurate, and primarily from personal experience

  • May be quoted anonymously by ROS to promote community value

  • Can be edited or delete by yourself or ROS moderators

Online Safety:

The forum is an open site meaning:

  • Your posts are searchable by internet search engines by default

  • Posts can be read by anyone on the forum website, including other users and those browsing without accounts

  • Posts could potentially be shared elsewhere, including via social media platforms

Please make sure you are happy with the level of information you are sharing.

Personal safety:

  • Never share personal details including: full names, addresses, phone numbers, email, bank details

  • Don’t ask others to share personal information

  • Members must be 18 years or older - under-18 accounts will be closed for safety

  • If you have any concerns about a private message you’ve received, please flag the message for moderators

For more information about staying safe online: https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/online/social-networking/

Safeguarding

We will support our members and take appropriate steps to protect them from harm or risk of harm, within the limits of our access to data. Our moderation team will follow the Safeguarding Policy outlined by Royal Osteoporosis Society. As a result, we may contact community members who could be at risk of harm to offer support or share information.

If a community member is at risk of harm or in an emergency, we reserve the right to override confidentiality or to request further support and information to ensure safety. This is in line with our organisation’s safeguarding policy and the law.

If you are concerned about another member of the community, use the flag button to alert the moderation team.

Crisis Support

This forum is a place for peer support and is not intended to replace counselling, crisis support or medical advice.

If anyone is looking for further support, help and support is available:

  • If you are in immediate danger:
    Call 999.

  • If you need urgent support or someone to talk to right now:

    Contact the Samaritans on 116 123 — available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
    You can also text SHOUT to 85258 for free, confidential support at any time.

  • For medical concerns:
    Speak with your GP or call NHS 111 for advice.
    If it’s an emergency, call 999.

  • If you’re outside the UK: please use your local emergency number or crisis support service.

Research

  • Forum use for surveys, research, or data collection requires ROS authorisation and is not allowed unless the content posted by representatives of ROS

  • The ROS currently employs a research support request process for researchers, please contact research@theros.org.uk for legitimate research collaboration

Commercial Activity

  • Do not request money from other community members for any reason

  • No self-promotion, advertisements, spam, buying, selling and fundraising

  • Sharing links to products and resources can be helpful and is allowed unless it breaches other guidelines

  • A link remaining on the forum does not mean it has been verified or endorsed by the Royal Osteoporosis Society

  • Use your own judgment when considering products based on recommendations. The Patients Association’s guide may help you consider what information and websites to trust: https://www.patients-association.org.uk/finding-trustworthy-information-online

Moderation

Moderation helps maintain a safe, positive environment for all members of the community. We moderate in line with the community guidelines and terms of use, we also reserve the right to remove any content that isn’t constructive or in line with the purpose of the community.

If there is a breach of the community guidelines or terms of use:

  • Content may be edited or removed to ensure that the community remains a safe and supportive place.

  • Members may be directly contacted to remind them about community guidelines or to warn them not to continue to post inappropriately.

  • Members may be temporarily or permanently restricted or removed from the community.

The community is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We do not routinely moderate in the evenings and overnight (between 5pm-9am), on weekends, or on bank holidays.

Please note that the delay to remove or comment on material does not constitute an endorsement or acceptance of it by the Royal Osteoporosis Society.

The organisation reserves the right to:

  • uphold moderation decisions made

  • refuse to respond to any persistent or malicious complaints

  • remove public discussions of moderation or comments made about moderators

Complaints

  • Do not discuss any complaints about the ROS via the forum, posts of this nature will be removed

  • If you have a complaint about the forum or other ROS services, please see our ROS complaints policy: Royal Osteoporosis Society | Policies

Legal

  • We reserve the right to change these terms of use and community guidelines at any time

  • This website is intended for people based within the United Kingdom. We cannot guarantee that the site or the contents of the site complies with the requirements of, or is appropriate for use in, other countries

  • Opinions posted or private messaged on the forum are those of the individual and in no way represent the view of the Royal Osteoporosis Society

  • Unlawful content is not permitted in the community. Such content will be removed, and further action may be taken if necessary