Information, Liability and Endorsement Disclaimers

This website is hosted by the Flinders University of South Australia trading as “CareSearch” (hereafter, “we” or “us”).

PLEASE TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO READ THIS IMPORTANT NOTICE

Although we have attempted to ensure the information published on the CareSearch website (including all articles, research data, surveys, forums/chat rooms and commentary; hereafter “Information”) is as accurate and complete as possible, such Information may change from time to time.  This may be because further research is developed and becomes available.  Practice may also vary according to what is available locally (e g, particular medications) and the experience and expertise of local health professionals.  In addition, the Information is necessarily of a general nature, and health professionals should use their best clinical judgement in the way in which it is used.  Individuals should seek professional medical care and advice as required.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we make no warranties, expressed or implied, regarding errors or omissions in the Information.  We assume no liability or responsibility for loss or damage resulting from the use of Information.  All access to and use of the Information is at the risk of the user.

On the CareSearch website, we may provide links to a number of other websites.  The inclusion of these links does not mean that they or their information, products, or services are endorsed or recommended by us.   We do not exercise any control over the content on these websites, and you are subject to that website's privacy policy when you leave our website.  We do not endorse, and will not be liable for the content or use of adapted products that are incorporated on other websites.   We are not responsible for the use of a link where a commercial charge applies.  Individual users are responsible for any charges that their use may incur.

We are not influenced by sponsorship, and express advertising or implied endorsement for any commercial products or services is strictly prohibited.  Reference on our website to any specific commercial products, process, service, manufacturer, company, or trademark does not constitute its endorsement or recommendation by us.

When visiting the CareSearch website, you may find pop-up advertisements.  These advertisements were most likely produced by other websites you visited or by third-party software installed on your computer.   We do not endorse or recommend products or services for which you may see a pop-up advertisement on your computer screen while visiting our website.  All material contained within the advertised website, and on any pages to which it is linked, is completely independent of us and in no way represents our interests or policies.

Privacy

The Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles generally apply to the private sector and all health service providers. We support and endorse the Act and the Australian Privacy Principles

Notwithstanding this, you should be aware that there are inherent risks associated with the use of the Internet for the transmission of personal or private information.  We disclaim any liability for such risks to the extent that they are outside of our reasonable control.

We will only record your email address and personal information when you:

  • Send us a message
  • Complete a feedback form
  • Provide information for the CareSearch website

Your email address and personal details will only be used by us for the purpose for which you have provided it.  Your email address will not be added to any mailing lists without your permission.  We will not give anyone else your email address or any other personal details provided by you, unless you consent to this in writing, or we are required to do so by law.

When you visit the CareSearch website, we automatically log, for statistical purposes, some or all of the following information about your visit:

  • The name or number which uniquely identifies the computer making the connection to this website (IP address)
  • The address of the referring website
  • The date and time of your visit
  • Your top level domain name (e.g. gov. uk .au, etc)
  • The address of the page accessed and any files downloaded
  • The type of browser you used

No attempt will be made to identify individual users or their browsing activities except where required by law.

Please note that this website uses cookies to maintain session information between web pages. 

Quality Assurance

The CareSearch website complies with the HONcode requirements, for trustworthy health information on the Internet. HON (Health on the Net) has been created for improving the quality of information intended to both patients and medical professionals.

We are also proudly linked to healthdirect an Australian Government initiative. Funded by the Department of Health, healthdirect aims to improve the health of Australians by providing easy access to quality information about human health. 

Copyright

The Information authored by or on behalf of us and published on the CareSearch website is subject to all our intellectual property rights arising under law and statute, including the Copyright Act 1968.  Permission is given for users to view, print and use the Information via the Internet and in electronic form, provided that it is for personal, domestic or genuine research purposes only and for purposes associated with the use of the CareSearch website (for example, a discussion forum).  We do not give permission for any use of the Information for commercial purposes. 

No Information authored by or on behalf of us may be copied, modified or reproduced in any way without our written permission.

The CareSearch website also publishes Information authored by other parties.  We have made every effort to contact those authors or others who may have intellectual property rights, including copyright, in material in the literature database published on the CareSearch website.  Please contact us if you believe that any copyright material has been used on the CareSearch website without the permission of the author.

Training Materials and Forums

On-line training materials can be of value to Australian palliative care practitioners, but such materials are not intended to replace formal education and training.  From time to time we may publish such materials on the CareSearch website.  However, use of online training materials should not be considered as a qualification in palliative care.  No formal accreditation is offered via our website.

We use reasonable endeavours to review the source of the materials and to assess the credibility and qualifications of the author or organisation involved.

Forums and other modes of online communication on the CareSearch website, for example interact chat rooms, may be conducted via a moderator who can stop or edit the information being shared.  We may appoint a moderator with appropriate expertise to monitor the quality of the information which is on the forum.  This will ensure it is consistent with our overall goal of promoting evidence-based palliative care. 

Other forums will be open to public participation, or alternatively will be closed forums which allow the participation of practitioners with identified expertise on a particular topic to share their knowledge.

Unless explicitly stated, the forums are un-moderated, however we may nevertheless monitor the un-moderated forums to endeavour to ensure accuracy of information and provide assistance to users when necessary.  Our personnel may – without being obliged to - voluntarily contribute to existing discussion threads, or initiate new threads of discussion. 

Our general approach to forums will be to establish an open, interactive discussion and to avoid censoring legitimate and relevant messages or opinions, but we reserve the right to edit and/or remove inappropriate messages or opinions, or to lock a discussion thread.

With regard to the quality of content of forums, responsibility rests with the moderator and/or the participants.  Opinions expressed in the forum are those of the participants only, and we are not responsible for any such opinions.

Guidelines for Participating in a Forum

To ensure users feel safe and keen to participate, participants are to respect the guidelines for forum usage, and website usage. 
As a general rule, participants should not give out private or confidential information, especially about someone else.  In addition, forum discussion which is offensive, threatening, or likely to cause embarrassment to a person is not permitted.

Our other guidelines are as follows:

  • Language: Use of bad language (insulting or provoking) will not be tolerated. This website is family friendly, and all posts and posters must respect the integrity of the website.
  • Legality: Illegal activity. This includes defamation and breach of copyright.  If someone has posted copyrighted material or otherwise illegal material, please notify us so that it may be removed.
  • Commercial Purposes: Commercial content as a direct or indirect (either intentional or non-intentional) attempt to solicit customers through a forum post will be edited or deleted.
  • Translation: We cannot provide translations of comments posted in any language other than English. 
  • Privacy: Do not publish another person’s or your own personal information or private details, such as addresses or phone numbers. 
  • Keep on topic: Responses to a particular thread should be on-topic and pertain to the discussion.  Participants should use the New Topic button to start a new discussion which would otherwise be off-topic in the current thread.  Threads that are off topic may be closed by the moderator.
  • Private Discussions: Sometimes, a discussion thread strays off into a friendly dialogue or a heated debate among a very small number of participants.  Public forum posts should be reserved for matters of interest to the general community.
  • Disclaimer: Any messages you post will stay available to the public for as long as this discussion board is online on the CareSearch website. Please post carefully, as once you have posted your message it is here to stay.  We will not edit the content of any posts unless it does not conform to these guidelines.  If we edit a post and you do not like the changes, we will delete the post at your request.

General

This website is authorised by Professor David Currow, Palliative & Supportive Services, at Flinders University.  Editorial control is exercised by the Knowledge Network Management Group, details of which can be found in the "About Us" page or by clicking on the link.

Please e-mail any questions or concerns to the website administrator at:
caresearch@flinders.edu.au

Last updated 20 March 2014