Join the LUPUS UK Online Forum

LUPUS UK hosts an online community forum with HealthUnlocked. HealthUnlocked is a social network for health. It allows you to find others with similar health backgrounds to help you take on day-to-day health concerns together. The LUPUS UK community has now been running for over five years and is host to thousands of members who are affected by lupus.

The forum is home to a very friendly and supportive community which actively welcomes new members and provides helpful responses to people’s questions. Members enjoy being able to share their experiences and questions anonymously (something that is more difficult on Facebook), with people that understand what they are going through. Lots of members have commented on how it is really reassuring to be able to talk to people going through the same experiences; it leaves them feeling a lot less alone.

The forum hosts a variety of features including;

Join In With Recent Conversations

POSTS

This is the main section of the forum, where you can read experiences and questions from other members or publish your own. Each post has a comment section allowing you to join in with the conversation or receive information, advice and support from other members.

POLLS

Share your experiences and opinions in a range of polls and see how you compare with the rest of the community.

PEOPLE NEAR ME

This is an opt-in service that you can use to find other members of the forum who live close to you. This can be useful if you want to ask somebody about services locally or connect with other people in your area if you don’t currently have an active lupus support group.

(Locations are approximate and only show estimated distances from other users, but never the location of another user. Only HealthUnlocked members can use this feature and members can opt out at any time.)

MEMBER EXPERIENCES

46.4% of our members ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ that since joining they are “more confident managing their disease on a day to day basis”

39% of our members ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ that since joining they have had “better interactions with their doctor or other health professionals”

15.4% of our members ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ that since joining they “use clinical services less (e.g. visiting Hospital or local doctor)”

TESTIMONIALS

“It’s good to read about the experiences of others with my condition. It helps me to feel empowered and better informed.”

“I was provided with information, support and advice regarding my ESA benefits appeal which was concluded in my favour nearly eight months after the initial decision.”

“Before I joined I felt like I was the only person suffering the same symptoms for many many years, I don’t feel so alone.”

“When I am at my lowest, scariest point I reach out to others on HeathUnlocked for sympathy, support, and for advice on specific ways the disease affects you. On many occasions it has pulled me out of feeling completely lost and depressed. it is invaluable to talk to people going through exactly the same things, which outside of the group are not easy to talk about, let alone understand. It’s an amazing community; it is treasured by all that use it.”

“It has helped me a lot to understand my illness.”