New to Dementia Support Forum? Please read this...

[HarrietD]

If you've just joined Dementia Support Forum, a very warm welcome to you You've come to the right place to get support from others. We hope you'll find it to be supportive and helpful here.

Getting started

You don't need to have a specific question to get started - we encourage all new members to head over to our welcome area to say hi and introduce themselves. Click here to go to the welcome area, and click the 'Post thread' button to post a message about your situation.

If you do have a question, or you'd just like to read what other people are saying, we'd suggest starting with one of these:

• I have a diagnosis of dementia here
• I have a partner with dementia here
• I care for someone with dementia here
• Or find the right area for you on our homepage here.

There are lots of different sections of the forum to discover on our homepage. Once you click on the area that is most relevant to you, look for the yellow button that says 'Post new thread' to start your own discussion.

Any questions?

If you are struggling to use the forums or have any questions for the team, please reply below or email us at DementiaSupportForum@alzheimers.org.uk

 

[HarrietD]

Staying safe online

Our volunteer team has posted lots of good advice about staying safe online at various points over the years, so we thought a general guide to protecting your privacy and safety online may be helpful.

Most of what's below is straightforward common sense - but it’s always wise to be on the safe side

Privacy and safety

Contact with other members via Dementia Support Forum itself is relatively safe, because we don’t permit the exchange of personal contact information on the forum and generally, members’ usernames are as anonymous as people wish them to be (in fact, we discourage members from choosing usernames which reveal their full name, email address, or anything which may identify them in any way - see our Help guide to choosing a username).

Here’s a quick reminder of our key tips around protecting your privacy and staying safe (our full guidelines on privacy can be found here):

· Remember Dementia Support Forum is a publicly visible online community, and so the information posted, except in the members-only forums, can be seen by anyone on the internet

· We strongly advise that you register on the community with a nickname/something that doesn’t reveal your full name

· Try not to include specific information that might identify you in your posts (like the area you live in, or people's full names)

· Don’t share contact details on the public forum (address, phone number, email address etc)

Please keep your personal details safe and think carefully before posting any specific details about your holidays etc, such as dates you’ll be away.

Privacy and safety outside of the community

Many members develop strong friendships with each other online. From time to time some members may feel they wish to be in touch with their friends outside of the forum, be that via email, telephone or in person.

Please be cautious when contacting other members directly or giving other members your personal contact details.

It’s really important to build up relationships - and confidence about those relationships - with other members, before exchanging any personal contact information with them, or arranging to meet in person.

If you do feel confident and comfortable with meeting up with another member in person, then the safest way of doing this is to bring a trusted friend or family member with you when you go. At the very least, you should tell someone who you are meeting, when and where. Take a mobile phone with you so that you can make contact with others if need be and so that you can be contacted, and arrange to meet in a public place that you know will be reasonably busy.

Last but not least: if any member of the forum initiates or suggests contact that you’re not comfortable with - either on the open forums or via PM - then please don’t hesitate to report this.

Questions or concerns?

If you have any questions or concerns about this, please feel free to contact us by emailing DementiaSupportForum@alzheimers.org.uk

 

[HarrietD]

Changing your username

Not sure about your username? If you'd like to change it, please email us at DementiaSupportForum@alzheimers.org.uk with what you'd prefer it to be and we'll be happy to change it on your behalf.