HealthUnlocked Reviews 

This community is an incredible resource for prostate cancer patients and their caregivers. I have been a member for over 4-years. I learn new things every day, am kept informed on the latest treatments and studies and feel comfortable asking any question. It is also a great place for support and encouragement. It’s the premiere site for prostate cancer! Highly recommend!

NRAS, is always there, day or night always listening.
The support is just tremendous by people who get it, because they have experienced it.

HealthUnlocked cannot be judged as a single entity, because from my experience each forum is different. I have found several groups where both admins and members are helpful, compassionate, caring and encouraging, offering vital support and information. However, with one group in particular, the admins rule with a rod of iron, behaving like strict headteachers in charge of unruly pupils, supported by a clique of similarly-minded members. Any suggestion of disagreement with their dogmatic ideas, let alone the voicing of alternative ideas, is dealt with by withering criticism. I was even criticised and ridiculed for a lifestyle and political stance some members assumed, quite erroneously, that I had, simply because of a comment I made about a medical matter! The ensuing comments became so unpleasant that I stopped opening the emails that contained them. It never fails to amaze me that statements and links purporting to be medical fact are allowed to be made by non-medically qualified admins and members. Many people are led to believe that HealthUnlocked is somehow affiliated to the NHS, which can be a dangerous concept if unsuitable and unmonitored advice us given. Trolling and personal remarks can be a problem in some groups if not correctly addressed. Having said that, the good groups are excellent, and a great source of support and useful information; it is a matter of finding out whether the ones linked with your conditions are the welcoming and empathetic ones or not. Always worth a try, though.

short story---health unlocked is a small social network founded upon health related matters,it is nothing like facebook and shoudnt be compared to it.
in that sense yes i recommend using it.

long story----i have what the UK calls learning disability (otherwise kkown as intelectual disability everywhere else) , classic autism,epilepsy and other disabilities supported on HU.
i was very impresed when i first joined HU and that theres a great charity/support group for learning disability (what is called intelectual disability in the US and anywhere else that uses the DSM manual).

it can get quite tricky as many people join with either pure/high functioning ASD, dyslexia, adhd etc or are from america and other countries which use the DSM manual more often join the group and think the charity covers them or that all peers will know how to support them,it honestly doesnt help that there are care services in the UK who carry on using learning disability as a catch all term for any learning difficulty.

when i first joined HU i was quite scared at being judged in bad ways by other users due to my intellectual disability being more hidden but not less obvious to me,my family and my functioning, my autism isnt hidden however-im non verbal/speech impaired and have very complex needs and difficulties.

however,i was/i am treated with respect on that group so its like a sanctuary to me,helping other people on there to, gets me out of my own head and problems.

there are some groups which are very based on friendships so you have to be popular and know certaiin people in order for people to speak to you or actualy answer anything helpful you might have said, i just unregistered from them groups or dont read anymore as i cant be bothered with sillyness like that.

one more thing id like to say ,HUs website admins (the site admins not the group admins) are so helpful-
when the group i use forwarded my ideas for helping learning disabled users to the admins,i never thought id hear anything from it-they contacted me and wanted to genuinely help any way they coud to make it easier for disabled people to use,its sad to see so many reviews bashing them when they do a lot behind the scenes and do care about the users,to lay on a service like HU takes a lot of money paying for servers,admins,mods etc, they coud easily spend the money on something elsse but they do it to give us all peer support,as a website admin myself ive nothing but respect for what theyve done with their site.

I've just joined this group yesterday, and it's amazing how many caring people have answered to my profile, saying kind things about my granddaughter and if I need help just ask the question and people will try to answer, also I've been told there is a self help line, this is a great site. I've found people exactly like myself who are going through what I'm going through,, and know how hard life is with this illness COPD. Can't fault it . This message is from my husband Shaun Freeman

A Very Helpful 'Forum'/ Self Help Group- run By 'Us' For 'Us', so to speak. A Good Wealth of Collective Knowledge, that can be Shared freely.

lots of info and people to chat with about illness

I have suffered with IBS for 35 years and joined HealthUnlocked about 4 years ago. Since then I have made friends with numerous people on here suffering the same as myself. It's so nice to chat to people who know what you are going through, it makes a world of difference.

Excellent site to discuss your health concerns with others and gain advice in a safe , sensibly and compassionately moderated forum. Only been helpful to me.

Profoundly supportive

I have learned so much and felt so supported by comments from fellow metastatic breast cancer survivors. I feel confident enough to share in this safe space. I am astounded by the number of women who are fighting cancer and by their courage and determination to win the battle!

When I was first diagnosed I went to HealthUnlocked and I really got a lot of information about everything to do with my particular disease. It was so helpful and informative and the people are so caring and funny too. It helps when you are a bit scared or worried about things to be able to talk to others with the same or similar problems.

Whilst the forums are a wealth of information, it is pretty pointless asking for ratings, when there is a reluctance to change when failings are pointed out ie "Moderators".

If and when a disagreement has broken out among posters, the first person to complain will manage to get another posters post deleted without explanation, as such often wrecking a good discussion! Posts (good posts) have been removed without warning or discussion with Moderators refusing to respond to requests as to why.

To move on there needs to be communication from HU itself.

Healthunlocked is the most amazing forum. I first discovered it when I developed Graves’ disease and I don’t think I would have survived had it not been for the wonderful support and advice I got from ThyroidUK. I’ve gone on to join other groups NRAS, Bone Health to name but two. I think all groups have a personality of their own but they are all full of knowledgeable, supportive people, can’t recommend Healthunlocked highly enough.

I find this forum (ataxia uk) much brighter than others. Everyone seems positive and able to laugh through it all.

Very helpful in providing reliable, relevant responses usually from personal experience.

Very helpful. Recommend to all

I think this is a wonderful forum to share experiences, thoughts, facts (hopefully) and support.

This is the most amazing, friendly, forum I could ever have hoped to come across. The peer to peer support is always there, 24/7, it's completely anonymous so free to discuss health without any identity concerns, and the depth of anecdotal advice and life experience has been life changing for me. I've been a member for 2 years now, and will happily continue to be for hopefully many years to come!

I find this site so helpful and informative, with lovely people answering my questions. Just fantastic

Being able to touch base 24/7 in my forum is fantastic. The fact that members are from different countries and time zones speaks volumes for Health Unlocked. Besides the forum, there is a wealth of info on various subjects. I use this for managing my health better in conjunction with my local organisation in Australia, Beyond Blue