About talkhealth

talkhealth is a team of like-minded individuals, who are keen to provide the latest health information and support that is currently available.  The teams' primary aim is to make health support easily accessible to everyone, offering interactivity between health professionals, charities and fellow patients and their caregivers'.

FAQs

Whether you’re a new talkhealth member, thinking of joining us or have been part of talkhealth since we launched in 2000, it’s always good to know a little more about us. We’ve answered some of your top questions which hopefully will give you a further understanding on what talkhealth is all about.  

What is talkhealth?

We’re a patient-centric online health community with an aim to help our members live their happiest and healthiest lives. talkhealth is unique in that most of our members live with chronic health conditions. Our mission is to make sure that everyone feels empowered to improve their physical and mental well-being regardless of their disability or illness. We’re all about self-care and self-management. 

How did talkhealth begin?

A lack of support for people with eczema back in 2000 prompted the idea of talkhealth. The team came together and realised how time-consuming it is piecing together all the disparate information that is available across the internet - and that's before you go through the rigmarole of verifying how trustworthy it is! 

We also understand that many people want to easily communicate directly with others in a similar position.  Chronic health conditions can be very alienating and there is only so much you can repeatedly discuss with family and friends. Talking openly with others who fully understand health issues is a very important part of the talkhealth community experience.

Are you doctors?

No, we’re not medically trained but we work in partnership with GPs, surgeons, nurses and specialist doctors every day to create our support programmes and monthly online expert clinics. Everything on the talkhealth website is scientifically backed and PIF tick-accredited, meaning that it’s gone through the most rigorous quality testing. 

Why should I become a TH+ member?

First and foremost, we’re a community which supports each other. Living with a long term condition can be lonely and being a part of a club which understands what you’re going through can be hugely comforting. As a TH+ member, you get exclusive access to our ever-growing library of articles, live events, sample offers, product review opportunities and online expert clinics. Think of us as your own health club membership; you get to meet new people, receive expert advice and enjoy regular giveaways. 

To make sure that we’re serving you and our community well, we regularly ask our members how we can improve and what you’d like to see more of. By becoming a member, you can shape the future of talkhealth to ensure that our platform better accommodates your needs.

How much is TH+ membership?

It's free currently! We want to ensure we're offering talkhealth members as much support as possible whilst we get through this challenging period.

Do I have to have a chronic condition to be a member?

Absolutely not! Catering for chronic health issues is our speciality but striving towards better mental and physical well-being is a long-term project that we all should be working on. We’ve got plenty of support programmes, articles, events, giveaways and reviews on ‘everyday’ health topics - from sleep to menopause and periods. This is also a space designed to give carers support and advice - so if you're looking after someone else, welcome! There’s something for everyone, regardless of gender, race, age, health history or ability. 

My condition doesn’t have a hub - is there any point in becoming a member?

We’re continually expanding our collection of hubs. In 2020, we’ve already launched two new ones - talkMS and talkmentalhealth. talkhair, talkmenopause, talksleep are on the way! If you live with a condition that doesn’t have a hub on our platform yet, let us know - it could be the next hub that we build! In the meantime, check to see if there are any articles or clinics on the subject. We do have a lot of material on talkhealth that isn’t tied to any specific hub and is marked under our men’s or women’s health hubs.

How can I be a more active member?

If you’re already a member, you may already receive our bi-monthly newsletters with all our articles, samples, articles, clinic notifications and survey plans. If not, you can update your preferences under your dashboard to start hearing more from us. Here’s how to take your membership up a level:

Upgrade to a TH+ membership: Our regular membership is brilliant but our premium one is even more interactive and community-focused. 

Try stuff out: The next step is to get involved in the trial panels we often promote on our platform; that way, you can test out products before the general public and help to shape the healthcare offered to other patients. You can also sign up as a panelist on our product review panel (simply tick the box in the health preferences part of ‘your profile’ to join the panel).

Become a follower: Make sure that you’re following us on social media to stay up-to-date with the latest talkhealth news and updates, so that you can take part in the online events we host. We’re starting to do more Instagram Lives and webinars and you can be a part of both by submitting questions either before or during the events. 

Take part: Our online expert clinics are a way of getting in front of a medical expert  without having to leave your house or wait for an appointment. If you see a clinic that sounds relevant to you, please do join in. Your question could be one that many other members want to ask but don’t know how to articulate so you’ll be helping others as well as yourself by getting involved.

Talk to us: talkhealth is yours and we want to make sure it’s really serving a purpose. Please take part in our surveys and calls for feedback (there’s always a material incentive!) so that we can improve our service to you.

If I sign up as a talkhealth member, what happens to my data?

Your information will:

  • be kept private and confidential at all times
  • never be shared with any third party without your consent
  • only shared with third parties after explicitly receiving your permission to do so, on a case-by-case basis

If you’ve got any questions about talkhealth, please don’t hesitate to contact us at info@talkhealthpartnership.com. We’re always happy to answer them!

The talkhealth approach

talkhealth is one of the UK’s leading online health communities, providing interactive support and information on a wide range of health conditions.  It offers direct access to the UK's leading health professionals, as well as in-depth and trusted information on varying chronic ailments and health concerns. talkhealth allows people the opportunity to take control of decisions concerning their health and well-being in a positive way.  

Our primary aim is to make health support easily accessible to everyone. Each health condition supported by talkhealth covers the latest advances in research and treatments, and we give our community the opportunity to sign up for self-care support programmes. We also run social media-based events and offer our members the chance to try new health products that are posted regularly on our site. Oh, and we work with clients to promote trials and surveys.

Collaborations and partnerships are key to the talkhealth community and are very important to us. By partnering with leading charities through the talkhealth Charity Grant scheme, we're able to host a range of online expert clinics. Each month, clinics are open for an interactive question and answer session supported by a panel of leading experts in the clinics topic. To date, talkhealth has collaborated with over 291 medical professionals and 60+ charities.   

...let's talk health!