Social Media Moderation Guidelines

The following guidelines relate to the University of Ottawa Heart Institute Patient Alumni Association (Alumni Association)’s social media channels, including: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

By publishing content on one of the Alumni Association’s social media pages (wall posts, comments, photos, links, etc.), you understand that this information has become publicly available.

The Alumni Association reserves the right to hide or delete any comments or content deemed inappropriate. In some cases, dependent on frequency, scale or content posted, we reserve the right to ‘ban’ or ‘block’ users from posting to our social media pages.

Inappropriate comments or content may include:

• Abusive or hurtful comments
• Comments that use inappropriate language or hate speech (based on colour, race, ethnic or national origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion, political beliefs, social class or family status)
• Naming individual patients or any other content that poses a privacy concern for a patient, their families or a staff member
• Inappropriate language, including: swearing, graphic descriptions of death or illness
• Off-topic, redundant or repeated comments (this includes the promotion of activities not related to the Alumni Association)
• Personal or organisational attacks, threats or defamatory comments
• Inappropriate or graphic imagery
• Content, comments or imagery that violates copyright or that may be confidential

Information posted on our social media pages should not be considered medical advice, nor is it intended to replace consultation with a qualified healthcare professional. As well, our pages and related message inboxes are not managed by healthcare professionals. If you have questions about your health, please contact your doctor. If you have any concerns, complaints or compliments about the care you received at the Heart Institute, please contact the Quality Office at quality@ottawaheart.ca or 613-696-7000 x19305.

With the exception of content posted by the Alumni Association, all opinions expressed on the Alumni Association’s social media pages represent the thoughts of the individual commenters, and not those of the Alumni Association.

All links to other websites found on our social media sites are provided as a service to readers, but such linking does not constitute endorsement of those sites by the Alumni Association, and as such we are not responsible for the content of external websites.

Note: These guidelines were adapted from those published by the Great Ormond Street Hospital and Charity