Should Healingwell create a Coronavirus/COVID-19 support forum?

As one might expect, Coronavirus/COVID-19 discussion forums are appearing in large numbers all across the web now, either as subgroups of more general medically subject-oriented sites, or as full-blown sites of their own.

Some are open to the public, some have access restrictions. Some are for medical professionals only, some are for specific groups. Also, another common practice right now is for forums originally designed to discuss a specific medical condition to allow temporary (more or less) discussion of coronavirus/COVID-19 issues. (As our own forum here has been doing). (And a vote of thanks to the mods for allowing that to happen, as it does seem to be useful).

All these forums seem to be running the gamut from pretty general in nature, such as:

(not pushing any of them, just listing them as examples)

https://covid19.camhx.ca/mod/forum/view.php?id=1

https://patient.info/forums/discuss/browse/coronavirus-covid-19--4541

https://www.pushsquare.com/forums/ps_general_discussion/corona_virus_panicdiscussion_thread?start=120

https://forums.livescience.com/forums/coronavirus-epidemiology.42/

to ones that are remarkably specialized, such as

a forum for hairdessers dealing with coronavirus issues when working with customers:

https://behindthechair.com/forums/forum/hairdresser-coronavirus-discussion/

or one for runners and the effect virus issues have on their running:

https://www.letsrun.com/forum/coronavirus

And here's an account of the history of how one Coronavirus/COVID-19 discussion forum came to be (again, merely citing as an example)

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/how-reddit-s-coronavirus-community-became-destination-n1162661

But perhaps the question can now be raised: is it time for Healingwell to consider starting up a Coronavirus/COVID-19 support group of its own, taking its place alongside Bipolar Disorder, Breast Cancer, Chronic Pain, etc., and, of course, Prostate Cancer? Should Healingwell owner and our host Peter Waite begin thinking now about adding "Coronavirus/COVID-19" as a new HW support forum?

Well, perhaps it really is a bit early to be doing that, but maybe it's also reasonable for Peter to have discussion about doing so as an agenda item for the next HW board meeting (or equivalent).

It's likely a safe assumption that the virus and its impact are going to be around for a while, so discussion forums about it are also likely to become commonplace and necessary.

mattam - Hadn't thought of that! <grin>

I'm not sure if I have an opinion on whether it should be a distinct forum, but I'd like to point out that this is one of the few places I've seen where the discourse on this is civil. (At least it has been lately.) I for one, very much appreciate that.

I second Mumbo’s statement. This is not the proper forum. That is clearly stated on the Home Page. But, I would suggest that if any of you think it is, please write to the founder, Mr. Peter Waite.

F8 - You answered the question, this is not a political forum...

"Arguing with an engineer is like wrestling in the mud with a pig. After a couple of hours you realize the pig likes it."

For many, it is a sport and there are many online arenas for them. I am a retired engineer therefore have given up the sport.

F8 said...

as an electrician living in silicon valley the dreaded words are "I am an engineer"

Which reminds me of the practical test that a high-school guidance counselor devised to help students choose if they are undecided between a career in mathematics and one in engineering. Student is asked to solve two practical problems, in order:

Problem 1: Student enters a room with only a sink, an older gas stove, a book of matches, and an empty pot on the floor. The object is to boil water.

Problem 2: Identical setup as Task 1, except that the pot is on the stove and full of water.

The first student, for Problem 1, takes the pot to the sink, fill it with water, puts it on the stove, and lights the gas with a match. Water boils. For Problem 2, the student enters the room, sees that the pot of water is on the stove, turns on the gas, lights it with a match, and the water boils.

The guidance counselor says the student would be happier in engineering.

The second student performs Problem 1 identically to the first student. For Problem 2, the student takes the pot to sink, dumps out the water, puts the empty pot on the floor, and says "I've reduced this to the first case, which I've already proven."

Clearly this is a future mathematician.

This story (Friday humor?) was told to me by a professor of electrical engineering, BTW.

Djin

Post Edited (DjinTonic) : 6/26/2020 2:49:15 PM (GMT-6)

Yeah, I remember the ones who wanted to open up, and questioned why some had even shut down in the first place.

Buddy Blank said...
Yeah, I remember the ones who wanted to open up, and questioned why some had even shut down in the first place.

you mean like the governors of texas and florida?

I'm not sure if 95% of the cases are preventable. Because of the jobs they have, many people have no choice but to go out on a daily basis. And even if those people are wearing a mask, it doesn't protect the wearer as much as it protects others. I'm not sure what the actual percentage of "preventable" cases is, but I suspect it's less than 95%. I'm open to being wrong on this.

While the Covid-19 infection itself isn't chronic, it appears that some of its sequelae may be long-lasting and may lead to chronic conditions. Stay tuned.

The sad irony is that, like many European countries, we took the big economic hit, but unlike those countries, we didn't get an initial handle on it and are still in the first wave. We squandered the lead time we had as demonstrated by our now having 25% of worldwide deaths.

When we "stopped" (but not really) air traffic from China, Europeans were bringing the virus to the U.S. When New York was taking measures, many states were watching with fingers crossed while their states were being seeded.

By our standards, Italy took severe lockdown measures, yet when Chinese advisers went to Italy they were aghast and said they were doing lockdown all wrong and too loosely. Everything is relative, but the numbers will tell the tale.

Djin

come on now gents...everything is political and religious...why does anyone want to pretend otherwise...oh that's right...I already answered that in my last post..ya know the one with the tag logoslidat to your left as you look at the post... umm politics= concerns of the body...religion= concerns of the soul,,,,how could it be any other way...HW does NOT live in a vacuous bubble as much as it sometimes likes to think(?)

island time said...
In my opinion, HW is trying to have it both ways. It doesn’t work.

Actually IT is is NOT Healing well that is "trying to have it both ways". If anyone should be criticized about this it is your moderators, especially Prato and me. The guidelines for HW on off topic subjects are clear: "10. Stay on topic. Posts which are not relevant to the forum topic may be deleted". Your moderators have chosen to relax this guideline because it seemed to be what our members wanted especially during this COVID-19 crisis. And we have participated in the OT discussions. We discussed this off line and decided that this was important enough to use our discretion and have even allowed the discourse to bounce up against the political rules. However, we have insisted that the discussion remain respectful and not violate Rule #3, having edited, deleted and even suspended when that doesn't occur. The feedback we have received about the approach described in this paragraph has been positive.

Back to the question at hand, I personally do not support a separate COVID-19 forum nor a no-holds-barred political - religious forum as part of the HW mission. There are plenty of options on the internet for that. However, if anyone really feels that is appropriate you should feel free to email the administrator/owner, Mr. Peter Waite, and make your case.

Jim