Advertising is not permitted on Talking Point. We do not accept posts from commercial organisations, their employees or families, which advertise or promote products or services.

The Talking Point forum, by its nature, contains content that is adult.

A parent agreeing for their child to view and perhaps contribute to Talking Point must do so in the knowledge of the forums and their content.

Talking Point is a public site on the Internet, so anyone - including a child - who has the means to browse the Web can explore parts of this forum.

While anyone can view Talking Point, registration is necessary to be able to contribute to it. The registration process recognises a child of 13 or under if they enter their correct date of birth, and will not permit registration except by manual intervention.

As part of the registration process for a child of 13 or under, a parent or guardian's email address has to be provided. Notification of the child's intention to register on the Talking Point forum is then sent out by email to that address.

The email asks the child's parent or guardian to complete and sign the following form, before returning it to the Talking Point Manager at Alzheimer's Society. When the form has been received by the Talking Point Manager, the child's Talking Point account will be activated.

The following recommendations and information may also be helpful for parents:

• Turn Private Messaging off.
• Discuss general Internet privacy issues with your child. For example, do not disclose any personal information including your surname.
• Supervise younger children when using Talking Point, as some children may find certain content disturbing. This has the added advantage of giving children the opportunity to discuss any subject that they may have issues with.
• Encourage your child to discuss any issues that worry or concern them before searching for the information on a public forum or the Internet.

There is a very helpful resource called Wisekids, which contains a host of materials that might also be usefully read by adults, who are often less up to speed on Internet matters than children.

Netiquette is a particular topic in that category.

A quote from the How to use the Internet Safely (a Guide for Parents) guidelines from this site is:

"Talk to your children about the things that they may encounter online. Without scaring them, make them aware of chat room danger, web sites with inaccurate information, unsuitable material online and email from strangers. They should understand that people online are not always who they say they are."

If you register on the Talking Point forum, you will need to select a name to use that has not been registered already, as the forum will not permit multiple users with the same name, for obvious reasons.

What not to use

Because Talking Point is a fully public web forum, a username should never be selected that can identify the person using it. The username shouldn't be a variation of your real first and family name, for example. Neither should the name give any indication of the e-mail address of the person, or the telephone number, or the postal address.

What to use

The main thing about deciding on a username is that you have to be able to remember it yourself! Apart from that, anything that has not been used before and that is acceptable under the Talking Point rules [that is, should not be offensive, for example] should be ok.

Please make sure that you are happy with the name you have chosen before you actually register it, as it cannot be changed afterwards.

Alzheimer's Society Central Office contact details are:

Address:
Alzheimer's Society
Devon House
58 St Katharine's Way
London E1W 1JX

Tel: 0207 423 3500

Email: enquiries@alzheimers.org.uk

To contact the Talking Point Manager, click on the 'Contact' tab at the bottom of this page, or email talkingpoint@alzheimers.org.uk

Members of Talking Point are welcome to post their original poems and images on the forum. However, please note that poems written, photographs taken or images produced by other people cannot be reproduced without the permission of the copyright holder (usually the author). Copyright applies to printed and recorded material, such as:

• Articles, books, magazines and poems
• Recorded music, CDs, vinyl records, tapes
• Recorded video, films, TV programmes
• Images, photographs, CD covers.

Such materials should not be reproduced in full, or in part, on Talking Point.

Messages found to be in breach of copyright legislation will be edited as appropriate.

You can find a complete description of copyright at the Intellectual Property Office: http://www.ipo.gov.uk/c-about.htm

Alzheimer's Society factsheets provide information on a wide variety of topics relating to dementia:

www.alzheimers.org.uk/factsheets

Once you have registered a username and password with Talking Point, you can post messages and send private messages, and you can also see areas of the forum that are not available to guests.

Should you forget your password, you will not be able to log in, and you will be able to use the forum only as a guest.

If you forget your password, please email talkingpoint@alzheimers.org.uk, using the same email address as you did to register originally. In your email, sign off with your Talking Point username.

The username, together with the email address, give a level of security to your request.

When your password has been re-set, you will receive an email from Talking Point informing you of your new password. You will be able to change your password back to one of your own choosing via your 'User Control Panel', once you are logged back in to the forum.

Talking Point supports and thanks people who are fundraising for Alzheimer's Society in the UK.

Fundraisers for Alzheimer's Society are encouraged to use the JustGiving website: www.justgiving.com/alzheimerssoc/ to raise funds online.

Supporters donating or pledging money through JustGiving can be assured that their money is going to help Alzheimer's Society in the UK.

Talking Point members are not encouraged to donate to Alzheimer's Society online via any other site.

Posts raising funds for causes other than Alzheimer's Society in the UK may be removed.

We ask journalists and writers who are researching material for books, articles or media stories to contact Alzheimer's Society's press office on press@alzheimers.org.uk.

The media should not contact members of Talking Point directly. If a member receives a direct personal contact from anyone in the media, please refer them to Alzheimer's Society.

When a member registers on Talking Point, they must agree to Talking Point's 'terms and conditions of use' before they can post anything.

In brief, here are the main conditions:

General conditions

• Acknowledgement that there are no experts on Talking Point, and that content is the sole responsibility of the person posting it.
• Agreement to undertake to indemnify and hold harmless Alzheimer's Society against all costs and expenses from any such actions by the member.
• Agreement that, by submitting information to the discussion boards, the member grants Alzheimer's Society a non-exclusive worldwide royalty-free perpetual non-revocable licence to use, distribute, adapt, modify, display, reproduce and transmit such information in any and all media in the manner in whole or in part without any duty to account to the member.

Using the forum

• Agreement not to behave mischievously or maliciously to the detriment of Alzheimer's Society
• Agreement not to post obscene, defamatory or libellous, inflammatory, vulgar, sexually orientated, racial, political, hateful, personally abusive or threatening messages, or any in violation of any laws or good morals and practice.
• Agreement that if a member posts anything that the moderators or groups of members consider detrimental to the working of Talking Point, then they may be penalised via the forum’s infraction system: http://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/showthread.php?t=16239
• Agreement that messages must not infringe or violate another party's rights (including, but not limited to, copyright and/or intellectual property rights, and rights of privacy and publicity).

Products and services

• Agreement that advertisement of any product or service by anyone related in any way to the producer or service provider is not permitted.
• Personal endorsement of a product or service that may be of benefit to our users may be permitted.
• Named reference should not made to any health or care providers, or to members of staff involved in providing such services.
• Agreement that any reference to third party organisations, their product/s or service/s does not imply endorsement by Alzheimer's Society.

Interpretation of the Terms and Conditions of Use

Frequently, interpretation of Talking Point's 'Terms and Conditions of Use' requires judgement on the part of moderators and the administrator, as few situations are truly clear cut.

As far as is reasonably possible, Talking Point will maintain a consistent stance in applying the 'Terms and Conditions of Use'.

For example, individual members, including moderators, may have differing views on what constitutes something that is offensive, and a post that is offensive to one person, may not be to another.

The responsibility for a final decision on interpreting the 'Terms and Conditions of Use' rests with the Talking Point Manager at Alzheimer's Society.

All volunteer moderators have personal experience of dementia, and as such, they may post into the forum exactly as other members do.

When a moderator does so, their contribution carries the same weight as that of any other experienced member, no more - unless they make clear that their post is one of a moderating nature.

Moderators have two main parts to their public moderating role:

• To greet new members of the forum and provide guidance and support to all members, as appropriate
• When necessary, to step in to ensure that the forum’s Terms & Conditions of Use are adhered to and that forum etiquette is observed.

Health and care providers

Where you have had good or bad experience of health and care providers such as NHS facilities, care homes, or their staff - please do not name the organisations or associated individuals on the forum.

You may not name the above organisations - no matter how strongly you feel.

If you do name the organisation or a person then a moderator will edit the post to remove the reference, and warn you that you have contravened the rules.

Repeated mentions after will result in public warnings and possible banning from Talking Point.

Commercial organisations

Mention on the public forum of good or bad treatment by named commercial organisations - places that supply goods and services such as banks - should be restricted, if possible, to descriptions such as:

• 'they were very helpful' and 'they were helpful' [e.g. 'they were very helpful dealing with Mum's EPA']

or,

• 'they were unhelpful' and 'they were very unhelpful' [e.g. 'they were not helpful when I asked advice']

It may also be worth adding a caveat such as, 'this is my personal experience only.'

Care needs to be taken in relaying one's experiences of organisations, both in terms of fairness, and from a legal standpoint.

Alzheimer's Society's factsheet, 'Voluntary Organisations', provides information on other sources of support: http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/factsheet/412

Personal endorsements of products or services that may be of benefit to our users may be permitted on this forum, but if you have any commercial interest please declare this openly and refer to our FAQ on Advertising.

Alzheimer's Society does not endorse in any way, and expressly disclaims liability for any product, manufacturer, distributor, service or service provider mentioned or any opinion expressed in answers or comments in this area of the forum.

Talking Point is a public Internet forum and it is safest to retain privacy of identity and not reveal details such as your real name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, etc.

Unless you wish to contribute to the forum, it is not necessary to register as a member because you can browse the content of the site as a guest. This way of using Talking Point is entirely anonymous, though you cannot contribute to forum content.

If you wish to contribute to the forum, you must register to be a member of Talking Point.

Registration is free, and requires a minimum amount of information to be given.

Privacy of Talking Point members

A member's identity should not be known by other members, as long as each member selects and uses their own unique username when contributing to the forum.

Members are advised not to include anything that might identify them when they post on the forum, unless they have no concerns about their identity being recognised.

Identity information can be communicated using Private Messages if you wish, but it is not generally recommended.

The nature of any Internet forum is that it is not possible to know the background and motives of members, so it is strongly recommended that no personal details are made public on Talking Point.

Please do not post messages encouraging others to disclose contact details about themselves. When such details appear, they will be removed by moderators for the safety of the person concerned.

Before you can contribute anything to Talking Point you will need to register as a member.

Once you have registered, your basic membership details will be available for other members to see.

Nothing that can identify you is visible, unless you have used real personal information when registering - something that is strongly not recommended.

Some messages posted on Talking Point might cause concern to some people, for example:

• the tone of a message
• the content of a message
• the person posting.

If you are concerned about any of the above, you can either contact the moderators via PM, or contact the Talking Point Manager at talkingpoint@alzheimers.org.uk  

You can report an offending post directly through the forum system

To do this, you need to first find the warning symbol. To the right of the post number in a thread is a warning symbol:

Click the warning symbol and the message editor will appear.

Type in your complaint about the other person's post and press 'Send Report'.

When you press 'Send Report', an e-mail message is sent to the Talking Point moderators. That e-mail will contain your own e-mail [not Private Message] address, although no reply will normally be sent there.

Upon receiving your alert, the moderators will review the post in question and, if appropriate, take action.

What will happen after I have reported my concerns?

Your concerns will be considered by either the Talking Point Manager, by all moderators, or by all the moderators together with the Talking Point Manager, according to the nature of the concern.

The concerns may be noted and the particular area more closely monitored for a while to learn more.

You may receive a reply saying that your concern has been noted but that it is not considered necessary to take action or you may receive a reply that says your concern is being acted upon.

If you feel that your concerns have not been addressed appropriately, or if your concerns relate to an area for which Alzheimer's Society is responsible, then you may wish to refer to Alzheimer's Society's complaints procedure.

We are responsible for ensuring that members' personal data is going to be used in an appropriate way by researchers and students.

We can only ensure this if we either:

• have information from an academic institution that tells us that any research project has been subject to a formal ethics approval process,

or

• know that a project has been funded and/or is being supervised by Alzheimer's Society (in which case we would hope that it would be subject to similarly rigorous guidelines).

Anyone interested in posting a message about research - whether connected to Alzheimer's Society or not - should contact the Talking Point Manager before they post. This will hopefully help to avoid any confusion, whilst assuring members that the invitations to be involved in research that are posted here, have been checked out by Alzheimer's Society.

Out of courtesy to Talking Point members, we request that researchers and students DO NOT contact people by private message about their work.

Please post publicly in the 'Researchers, students and professionals' section of the forum. This allows people who may wish to help you, to do so.

We cannot allow the forum to be used to recruit participants for any studies.

We cannot allow researchers, students or professionals to ask Talking Point members for their personal contact details and strongly advise people not to give out any contact or personal information over the internet.

Researchers and students may also find it helpful to contact Alzheimer's Society's library, the Dementia Knowledge Centre, at knowledgecentre@alzheimers.org.uk.

Sharing real life experience through the media is a crucial part of raising awareness of dementia. A single story can achieve more than a thousand facts or figures: it can give personal insight and achieve lasting change.

This is why you can help. If you are living with dementia or caring for a person with dementia and are interested in sharing your story with the media, then Alzheimer's Society would like to hear from you.

To find out more, please contact our press team at press@alzheimers.org.uk.

Introduction

These online forums are meant as a support group for peer-to-peer discussions, and are not an official channel for Alzheimer's Society.

The moderator hosts are all volunteers, who are selected and recruited by Alzheimer's Society.

1. Purpose of Talking Point

• 1.1 The purpose of this site is to provide a safe forum for people to share experiences and help each other cope with the challenges of living with or caring for people with dementia.
• 1.2 The moderators of this site cannot be expected to pre-check the content posted via the discussion system and therefore we make no claims as to the accuracy, integrity, timeliness or quality of such content.
• 1.3 This site is not a substitute to professional advice. You should consult your doctor, or other relevant professional, before making any decisions that could affect you or others.

2. Conduct Expected of Users

• 2.1 Participation in, and use of this site is at the user's own risk.
• 2.2 All views and information, whether publicly posted or privately transmitted are individual and not the views, policy or advice of Alzheimer's Society. You understand and acknowledge that content is the sole responsibility of the person from which such content originated.
• 2.3 The naming of health or care providers and/or their individual staff is prohibited. Alzheimer's Society aims to remove such references but has no obligation to do so.
• 2.4 The use of the message boards for gathering information for surveys, articles and research studies, or similar, is prohibited unless prior permission has been given by Alzheimer's Society.
• 2.5 All users under the age of 13 must seek permission from their parent or guardian in order to gain membership of this site. While we welcome participation from members under 13, we require that a parent or guardian fax or mail back a signed permission form before we grant membership.
• 2.6 You agree not to participate in mischievous or malicious behaviour which causes damage or may cause damage to Alzheimer's Society or this site or any of the computer systems on which this site resides.
• 2.7 By using this site you agree to these terms and conditions. If you do not agree to these terms and conditions Alzheimer's Society reserves the right to prohibit you from using this site.

3. Postings and Messages

• 3.1 Content that is posted to this site or otherwise included in its private messaging systems, including your choice of public name or id, must follow these conditions.
• 3.2 Messages must not be obscene, defamatory or libellous, inflammatory, vulgar, sexually orientated, racial, political, hateful, threatening, in violation of any laws or good morals and practice or personally abusive. You hereby undertake to indemnify and hold harmless Alzheimer's Society against all costs and expenses from any such actions by you.
• 3.3 Messages containing personal contact details (full names, email addresses/links, phone numbers, fax numbers or postal addresses) are not allowed except with the prior written consent of Alzheimer's Society.
• 3.4 Messages containing personal endorsement of products and services that may be of benefit to our users, may be permitted. Messages deemed to contain commercial advertising, and unsolicited messages for the purpose of advertising a product or service, are not permitted on this site.
• 3.5 Messages must not be excessively repeated intentionally.
• 3.6 Messages must not infringe or violate another party's rights (including, but not limited to, copyright and/or intellectual property rights, and rights of privacy and publicity).
• 3.7 By submitting information to the discussion boards, you grant Alzheimer's Society a non-exclusive worldwide royalty-free perpetual non-revocable licence to use, distribute, adapt, modify, display, reproduce and transmit such information in any and all media in the manner in whole or in part without any duty to account to you. You also grant Alzheimer's Society the right to grant licences to users of the Website to view and copy such information for personal use.
• 3.8 Alzheimer's Society may from time to time edit or remove posts that are contrary to these terms and conditions or not constructive to the overall purpose and mission of Alzheimer's Society.
• 3.9 You agree not to transmit any chain letters, spam, or junk messages to other users.
• 3.10 You agree to respect the privacy and wishes of those users who you have been privately messaging. You must not pass on details to third parties (except Alzheimer's Society) without permission.
• 3.11 By sending or receiving a private message you consent to them being viewed by Alzheimer's Society or its representatives, where Alzheimer's Society have been notified of a problem or a breach of these terms and conditions.

4. Moderation and Banning

• 4.1 Alzheimer's Society has the right, but no obligation, to remove, edit, move or close any message or group of messages for any reason.
• 4.2 Alzheimer's Society is not obliged to enter into any correspondence regarding the moderation of content on the Talking Point discussion system.
• 4.3 Alzheimer's Society has the right to modify or delete any or all information relating to a user, including deletion of that user's account, without prior notice or reason.
• 4.4 Any removal or banning of a visitor from anywhere within Talking Point is binding and the decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into nor will moderators be obliged to explain such banning.
• 4.5 In cases of dispute, the decision of the Talking Point Manager at Alzheimer's Society shall be final.

5. Privacy and Data Protection

• 5.1 We do not share any personal information about you, except where you have given permission.
• 5.2 Cookies are used to assist the functionality of the website only; personal data is not collected via cookies.
• 5.3 From time to time Alzheimer's Society may contact you for administration purposes.

6. Notice of Action and Changes to Terms & Conditions

• 6.1 Where a breach of these terms and conditions occurs Alzheimer's Society reserves the right to take such action as it sees fit.
• 6.2 Any reference to third party organisations, their product/s, service/s or staff does not imply endorsement by Alzheimer's Society.
• 6.3 This agreement shall be governed in accordance with the laws of England.
• 6.4 The terms and conditions of this agreement are subject to change by Alzheimer's Society at any time. Any user's usage of this site following changes shall indicate the user's acceptance of the new agreement.

7. Exclusion of Liability

• 7.1 Alzheimer's Society hereby excludes all and any losses, liabilities, claims, damages, expenses or costs (whether as a consequence of its negligence or otherwise) arising in connection with:
• your use or inability to use Talking Point;
• any unauthorised access to or alterations of information provided by you;
• your use of any third party websites (including without limitation those that may be connected by hyperlink to this site);
• any arrangements entered into with any third party in connection with any information provided by or in connection with this site;
• the inaccuracy, incompleteness or tardiness of any information supplied through the service other than, in each case, any liability in respect of death or personal injury.

8. Definitions

• 8.1 'this site' refers to all Talking Point Forum Internet pages in the forum.alzheimers.org.uk sub-domain.
• 8.2 'Alzheimer's Society' includes to any person or organisation involved in any part of the design, development, operation, marketing, promotion or other similar aspects of this site.
• 8.3 'user' and 'you' refer to any person viewing or interacting with this site.
• 8.4 'content' refers to any text, photograph or other image presented on this site to users by either Alzheimer's Society or users.
• 8.5 'messages' includes all private messages, posts, visitor messages, posts in social groups and pages and blog entries.

If you have any comments or complaints about Talking Point or any of its members, please write to talkingpoint@alzheimers.org.uk.

Terms and Conditions of Use: Last updated 12 May 2009

Don't reply unknowingly to an old thread: Before you reply to any post, always check the date of the last message that was posted there. You will find the date and time of each post at the top left.

Remember that Talking Point is a public forum: Whilst Talking Point is a supportive community, remember that anything you post in the public forum can be viewed by anyone with access to the Internet. Never post information that might help someone identify you or where you live.

Ensure you abide by the forum rules: i.e. please don't use foul language or insults; don't name care providers or individual staff associated with them; don't promote a product with which you are associated; and don't 'hijack' a thread by taking it off-topic.

Remember that Talking Point members often post at times of stress: This can lead to mis-understandings and sometimes, conflict.

Talking Point is an online support and discussion forum, for anyone affected by dementia. It's a place to ask for advice, share information, join in discussions and - most of all - feel supported.

Anyone can visit the forum as a guest, and browse its content.

If you would like to communicate with others and ask your own questions, you will need to register as a member.

The forum is managed by Alzheimer's Society and supported by volunteer moderators.

Talking Point is available 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

Talking Point is not:

• manned by professional advisers. Help is provided through shared experience and peer support
• able to help diagnose dementia, or advise on treatments
• able to recommend care homes, doctors or other care providers.

The main purpose of Talking Point is to support people affected by dementia. Other matters, such as active campaigning and soap-boxing, are welcome as long as:

• they are placed appropriately - e.g. the 'Tea room', 'Resources' area or 'Raising Awareness and Campaigning'
• they do not divert the forum from its main purpose
• they do not prove to cause upset to the majority of members.

Moderators will move or delete contributions that disrupt the benefits that the majority of members gain from Talking Point.

Talking Point is here for anyone who is affected by dementia.

The forum is public, and thus most content may be viewed by anyone who has an Internet connection and a browser.

Some content is able to be viewed only by registered members, and only registered members may contribute to the content of the forum.