Health section on zoklet somewhere..?

[birdy]

My previous thread got deleted, and I honestly can't be bothered to work offline and go through history to find it, so I'm doing a brief thread again here.

My idea is that we need a general health section somewhere on the website, whether it be a new forum, with others merged into it, or a sub-forum in an existing one.

Thats basically the tldr of the previous thread.


I'm a bit pissed the original got deleted but whatever.

[psycho_8b]

Be a little more specific because all I am getting from the idea of a health forum is a bad substitute for proper medical advice.

[kayx]

I think this is a pretty good idea, maybe as a sub section of COW or something - of course it would not substitute for proper medical advice, but I'm for it.

[psycho_8b]

I think this is a pretty good idea, maybe as a sub section of COW or something - of course it would not substitute for proper medical advice, but I'm for it.

I'm not so sure to be honest. Healthy living, yeah. Users giving out advice that should be given by a medical professional, no.

The last thing we need is "Teenager dies huffing Raid after website told him it would clear a blocked nose."

[Figure-8]

Most definitely.

It would expand, bring more discussion, and actually help people.

[kayx]

I'm not so sure to be honest. Healthy living, yeah. Users giving out advice that should be given by a medical professional, no.

The last thing we need is "Teenager dies huffing Raid after website told him it would clear a blocked nose."

Maybe there are some medical professionals on zoklet?

I know deep down that this probably IS a bad idea...but I want it anyway for the few bits of gold that could come forth.

[FireStarter]

I'm all for it as far as preventative maintenance towards living healthy and taking care of oneself goes, as well as discussion of medical practice, etc. I would just not want to see it become a "Shit guys, I'm bleeding to death, what do I do" forum that replaces seeking proper help.

[zelda]

I would like to see this happen. Besides, just put a disclaimer on the page, letting people know that this should not be a substitute for trained professionals.

[HLC]

people ask general health questions in Carved Outta Wood all the time.
Zokleteers give those questions a go.
some good advice and some bad results.
My take is that there's only maybe 3 members who would qualify as medical professionals or graduate level researchers, and I don't think there's any MD's posting.
So for the most part, you wouldn't be getting verifiable answers, but more like possible answers and a bit of discussion.
I'm not exactly sure there's enough questions for an active subforum though.
Maybe it'd make searching easier, but it'd be slow moving, is my take.

[birdy]

Be a little more specific because all I am getting from the idea of a health forum is a bad substitute for proper medical advice.

Ok I guess I'll come back in here and elaborate (seeing as you asked oh so nicely psycho_8b : /). First off I'll say that I'm a registered nurse as it pertains as to why I wanted a more generalised health area to post in. Basically the story was that I came home from work wanting to have a discussion about a health condition I came across that day because I thought it was interesting (and that maybe others might think it was too), but I couldn't decide where to post it. You might say Generally Speaking, but the user base in that forum wouldn't generate the kind of discussion I desired.

Considering forum merges are happening at the moment I originally suggested that a new forum with a general health banner could be created, merging a few forums into it (Shrink Wrap, Carved Outta Wood - both forums with low traffic). Anyway there were a few suggestions regarding this, too many sub forums, different focus in forums etc etc.

I was speaking to Mandy on IRC earlier today in fact, discussing the idea that expanding Shrink Wrap into a more generalised health area might be a good idea, instead of making a new forum. An idea which I think is a great one (and one I'm kind of kicking myself for not thinking of first, even though I was on the right track). Shrink Wrap manages to maintain its standards as far as I can tell, and all users are well aware that anything said is no substitute for professional advice, I see no reason why it couldn't be stretched out to encompass a larger area of health (this may mean more moderation required however if the idea goes ahead).


I'm not so sure to be honest. Healthy living, yeah. Users giving out advice that should be given by a medical professional, no.

The last thing we need is "Teenager dies huffing Raid after website told him it would clear a blocked nose."

It's not my intention to create a forum where we tell some kidiot to huff raid to cure the common cold. I wanted somewhere to discuss the physical human condition, in a medical fashion. A place to discuss how diseases work, how they are transmitted, symptoms that may occur (this knowledge can come from anywhere, personal experience or perhaps you work in the health industry, just to name a few). I see it as a discussion forum only, not a diagnostic forum. Questions asking what to do in a certain situation when the obvious answer is go to the ER or doctor would not be tolerated.


people ask general health questions in Carved Outta Wood all the time.
Zokleteers give those questions a go.
some good advice and some bad results.
My take is that there's only maybe 3 members who would qualify as medical professionals or graduate level researchers, and I don't think there's any MD's posting.
So for the most part, you wouldn't be getting verifiable answers, but more like possible answers and a bit of discussion.
I'm not exactly sure there's enough questions for an active subforum though.
Maybe it'd make searching easier, but it'd be slow moving, is my take.

HLC, I've said this before, but just because you only know of that many medical professionals, doesn't mean there aren't more. We just don't have anywhere to post! :p. But seriously, there are plenty of other forums on here that are slower than Shrink Wrap is already, and they continue to stick around. I don't see how expanding it would negatively increase on the traffic to that particular forum.

[Fish]

We're gonna be shuffling some forums soon, and there's been some serous talk about where we can squeeze in a medical section. I think the two main options were either appending it to CoW or Shrink Wrap.

[birdy]

We're gonna be shuffling some forums soon, and there's been some serous talk about where we can squeeze in a medical section. I think the two main options were either appending it to CoW or Shrink Wrap.

Personally I think Shrink Wrap would be the way to go, just because of the kind of users that forum attracts.

[Fish]

Personally I think Shrink Wrap would be the way to go, just because of the kind of users that forum attracts.

I'll keep that in mind! Thanks for your input so far.

[birdy]

I'll keep that in mind! Thanks for your input so far.

Happy to help. I'm glad it's being taken into consideration so seriously :)

[HLC]

Personally I think Shrink Wrap would be the way to go, just because of the kind of users that forum attracts.

What is the nature of the questions you feel are not being addressed?

metabolic, endocrine and general medical issues often pop up in CoW.
Like I said, they get responses, of which the quality varies.
Psych med questions are rare.
I haven't been lurking in shrink wrap, so I don't know much about it.

[birdy]

Any updates on this from the mods?

[Fish]

I remember there was a bit of conversation about what to do with the health section, the shrink wrap section, and COW...there was a lot of complicated options, and I honestly don't know what the final resolution was.

For the time being, I'll update Shrink Wrap to include medical/health issues. If we decide later that there's a better place to incorporate it, that may be changed (with an appropriate announcement made).