General Carer Private Areas

[anthony]

Nicolette has mentioned to me that some carers believe the private carer areas are for chit chat and general discussion... well, I will tell you now, those areas are not for such things. They never have been and never will. The private PTSD discussion is not for general chit chat, nor do I allow such within it. Nicolette has been advised by myself exactly what is and what is not allowed within the private areas. I posted a message in that area when first set it up, and I believe Nicolette has now changed that so it comes from her instead of me, as it could be viewed that I have access to the area, which I do not. I will reiterate now:

The private carer areas are only for the discussion of specific carer matters that absolutely require to be hidden from the PTSD sufferer, otherwise; the content IS to be listed within the appropriate public forum.

If you want to chit chat with other members that is hidden from the public eye, then use the PM system, discuss via email or other means, but DO NOT form groups and attempt to approach any staff member by colluding with others in an attempt to garnish support before approaching staff.

If a carer has a specific issue with the way the forum policy is, then the [DLMURL="http://www.ptsdforum.org/forumdisplay.php?f=56"]ask an editor [/DLMURL]forum exists for such discussion. It is completely useless contacting any one or more staff members with such matters, instead you should only focus on posting issues in the appropriate ask an editor forum for further public discussion.

 

[helena]

Hello Anthony,

I take your point about chit chat and want to make clear that I am a relatively new member to this group so am certainly not a spokesperson and I dare say the others will come along with their own views.

Due to time differences I have only just read this post but want to respond because I have some concerns that I would like clarified.

My main worry about posts being moved from the private section into the public domain is the risk of identification of the carer and the sufferer. My reasons for that fear are:

1. Some carers would be put at risk of violence if by their posts they were subsequently identified by their sufferers or their sufferers families/friends

2. Many of the carers have sufferers who are either x military or are still serving in the armed forces which clearly is a serious security risk

3. My fear is the 'ambiguity' of the sticky which does not clarify why a post would be moved to the public area because it does not give those posting clear guidelines as to what is acceptable or not (other than chit chat)

4. Notwithstanding the removal of names, scenarios, descriptions of episodes and so on are all identifiable so moving posts at whim is very disturbing to me.

I would suggest that if posts are deemed inappropriate for the sake of privacy, security and moral and legal obligations of this forum that they be deleted rather than put any members or their families at risk.

I am not sure what other members views are on this these are just my thoughts.

 

[Nicolette]

Some carers would be put at risk of violence if by their posts they were subsequently identified by their sufferers or their sufferers families/friends

Helena I suggest you go back into the Private Carers section and read what I wrote there:

Without disclosing content I discussed the New Year Thread with Anthony who said it should have been in Carers General Discussion and that threads of this nature, once posted in this private area, cannot be moved back to a public area so he has told me to delete it.

Had I caught the New Years Thread on the very first post I could have possibly moved it. I am an Administrator and I do know the rules and risks and if ever unsure I always ask Anthony first. My priority is to protect the confidentiality of the section and yours as a member is to use it appropriately.

If you also go to the forum home page it tells you what content should be contained in each Forum section which I have also outlined to you in the recent discussions in Private Carers.

At the end of the day, there has never been an issue since the forum started on 06th Sep 2005 so you can rest assured everything will be done to protect something written in confidence but if it is general chit chat it will either be moved or deleted.

 

[helena]

Hi Nicolette,

I am not referring to that thread and I take your point about chit chat.

I am referring to your sticky on the private section which says posts can and will be moved because it seems to be in addition to 'chit chat' and not relating to that rule. I did see the previous sticky post and the editor then (was it Kathy?) seemed to overrule that posts could be moved so I assumed that policy would continue. With the new sticky I just wanted to clarify what the position is.

I am not trying to be difficult or argumentative I am not just not clear and am expressing my view.

Helena

 

[anthony]

No private content can be moved without the express permission of all who have posted upon it, being from a private area to a less private / public area.

 

[helena]

Thank you.

Personally I am very happy with that and it clears up the confusion I had. I will bow out now and let the other carers give their opinions/thoughts.