Kidney Community - community guidelines
A supportive space for connection, shared experience, and respectful conversation.
These guidelines are here to help everyone feel comfortable, respected, and able to get the most out of Kidney Community. They are not legal terms. Instead, they outline the shared expectations that help us maintain a welcoming, safe, and constructive environment.
These guidelines sit alongside our formal Terms of Use, which cover the legal side of using the platform. The guidelines below focus on how we interact with each other as a community.
Being part of the community
Kidney Community is a space for people affected by kidney disease to share experiences, offer peer support, and connect with others. It works best when everyone participates with kindness, patience, and understanding.
We encourage you to:
- be respectful in your conversations
- recognise that people may be going through difficult times
- remember that everyone’s experiences are different
Respectful and constructive conversations
Healthy discussion is welcome, and differences of opinion are normal. To keep conversations productive:
- focus on ideas rather than individuals
- avoid personal attacks, inflammatory language, or confrontational behaviour
- keep discussions relevant to the topic or category
- avoid using capital letters for entire messages, as it can feel like shouting
Sharing information responsibly
People often share personal experiences, tips, or things that have helped them. Please keep in mind:
- personal stories are valuable, but they are not medical advice
- medical information posted or privately messaged by users must never be used in place of the advice of a health professional.
- what works for one person may not work for another
- it’s helpful to clarify when you’re sharing personal experience rather than guidance
If you have concerns about your health or someone else’s, it’s always best to speak to a healthcare professional.
Keeping the community safe
We want Kidney Community to feel safe for everyone. You can help by:
- avoiding content that could be upsetting, offensive, or harmful
- flagging posts that seem inappropriate or concerning
- being mindful when discussing sensitive topics such as abuse, neglect, or self-harm
If you or someone else may be at immediate risk, please contact emergency services.
Protecting your privacy
To help keep yourself and others safe:
- avoid sharing personal or sensitive information
- choose a username that doesn’t identify you
- be cautious about sharing details of your daily movements or private life
- remember that posts are public and may appear in search engines
Private messages are not monitored and can’t be viewed by moderators, but you can report anything that feels inappropriate.
Community behaviour
To keep the space welcoming:
- avoid spam, repetitive posts, or advertising
- avoid promoting products, services, or treatments
- avoid naming healthcare providers or individual staff
- be considerate when using humour or strong language
If something feels off, you can flag it for the moderation team.
Moderation
Our moderators help keep the community running smoothly. They may:
- edit, move, or hide posts to keep discussions constructive
- reach out privately if something needs attention
- step in when conversations become unhelpful or unsafe
Moderation is there to support the community, not to police it. If you have concerns about moderation, you’re welcome to contact the team privately.
Research, media and external requests
To protect the community:
- research requests should go through the Kidney Research UK PPI team
- journalists and media professionals should contact the press office rather than approaching members directly
Looking after each other
If you’re worried about another member, or if something doesn’t feel right, please flag it so the team can take a look. We rely on the community to help keep this space supportive.