Naming of professionals

[NikNik]

Hi all,

I have started this conversation because it has come up in a few discussions.

We have seen a few members try and recommend a professional that has worked for them in the past. Currently we ask for the names of professionals to be removed in line with the guidelines that outline:

Please refrain from publishing any content:

• That can be seen to be serving yours or somebody else’s commercial 
interests
• That can be interpreted as professional advice such as legal, medical, or financial advice

The first point there covers us in the event someone (Dr, professional, author) recommends themselves in order to benefit commercially (unfortunately we have already seen this happen). Due to the anonymity of the forums, we can't guarantee that the advice about a particular person is unbiased.

The second point is pretty straight forward. Even if the person posting the name doesn't intend on the advice being interpreted as professional advice, it was a risk that the person reading it could take it that way. It also may lead to false expectations because individual people can have individual experiences. What one finds helpful, another can find useless. 

There is another element of this that is tricky. Due to legal liability reasons, we don't allow people to name specific people (professional or not) and share their negative thoughts about that person/company/organisation. As this is a legal issue, this is something we can't budge on.

The other part of this we battle with is, if we did go down the path of allowing members to recommend Drs/professionals, we are allowing people to give positive feedback - but not allowing people to give their  negative feedback. So it's a bit of a ethical dilemma too.

While I'm not saying that we'd  rule out allowing members to name professionals that have worked for them, we do have some hurdles to overcome first.

Happy to hear opinions on all sides of the matter. We will take them on board, however, we can't make any promises either way on what will happen.

[kristin]

Thanks Nik,

I think I get why SANE is leery of this idea. I appreciate the concern about self-promotion which is very valid.

I also feel that if there is something as public as TrueLocal with reviews on general businesses, then why not an equivalent on the forum for drs? You might ask TL how they deal with legal ramifications.

I am not a lawyer but my undertanding is that 1. it is the person's perspective - which they are entitled to express, 2. it is important to be truthful, 3. in the event of a libel case (which it is clearly preferable to avoid) truth is a defence (not sure that is so in all states and territories though).

Kind regards,

Kristin

[kato]

Ad I have mentioned before I understand the legalities as well.
I recently went and saw a gp who is apparently really good..... well I saw him amd my judgement is I am not going back to see him. Do I hold the referrer guilty no, that dr is perfect for him but not me lol
Again as long as it is stated use at your own responsibility, and any onefound aelf promoting has to pay the members xxx,xxx,xxx amount of dollars each should stop them self promoting
Lmao

[Alessandra1992]

I think the guidelines are worth sticking with as what worked for me, may not work for you. Also, many psychs and psychologists may not be able to take on any more clients..I think it is helpful to focus on what to look for when choosing or staying with your professional supports.
Its a bit like discussing drugs, one combination may work fantastically for one person, and be totally inappropriate for me.

[kato]

Exactly sandy
Most if not all of us are aware that what works for the goose might not work for the gander lol

[kristin]

Hey Kato,

Great that you can see this, even when not so well and desperate for help.

Not sure where I read another post of yours saying you realised your "old" gp was actually really good so you went back and apologised to her. That took a lot of guts and humility. Good for you! My bet is she's likely to respect you even more now for having that courage and humility. It is a very rare thing these days.

Your suggestion about self-promotion is actually an excellent one.

@NikNik Any chance of incorporating @kato's suggestion into the guidelines? Something along the lines of anyone found using it for self-promotion will a) be kicked off, and b) be sent a hefty advertising bill for doing so in ad free space?

Incidentally this ad-free status is also something I really love about the forum.

I find ads everywhere make me ill. I avoid them as much as possible: no commercial tv (often no tv at all), newspapers (skim on-line ones occassionally, prefer TC or IA), hardly any billboards out in rural area where I live, hate being played "the junk food people" jingle repeatedly in my local Colesworth, don't listen to radio just silence in the car, the internet is saturated in it but I have learned mostly not to even look at it. So this being an ad free space is really integral to my ability to engage in it as much as I do - thanks again!

Kind regards,

Kristin

[Uggbootdiva]

you are not legally liable for advice given in a social setting even if you are a professional.

[NikNik]

Hi all,

Apologies - I need to subscribe to this thread because I didn't see the updates.

At the moment, the advice we have been given is in black & white from lawyers - so whether we agree with it or not, we have to align the forums to it. If something goes pear shape we will not be covered as we would have directly gone against legal advice. I hope you can appreciate the situation we're in here.

However, over the next 2 months (say by Jan or so) we have to work with the legal experts again on a range of things and I will run by some of the scenarios you have all mentioned to see if there are exceptions.

I hope this sits comfortably with you all.

Again, I want to reiterate, we appreciate all of you feedback. There are always going to be things that are flexible and changed for the greater good of the community, but there are going to be times where we're not in a position to take some things on. We will always be honest and transparent with our feedback to you. If something can't be changed, we will be up front about it and let you know why. We will try and find compromises where possible. If something is completely open to being changed and negotiated, we will ask for your feedback and make decisions based on the majority.

Thanks again

Nik

[kato]

Thanks @NikNik

[NikNik]

Hi all,

I'm here to update on naming of professionals.

We worked with our legal team and there have been no changes in their advice about naming professionals. There is a whole lot of grey in this area and too much risk from a defamation and liability perspective, to justify changing the current Community Guidelines.

I appreciate everyone's patience on this and hope it doesn't cause any inconvenience.

🙂 Nik