The Health Hub is a dedicated social networking site.  Any information you input on the Health Hub (including your profile) can be shared in a number of ways.  You can make this the information private (only you can see it), logged in users (only logged in users can see it), public (it is freely available on the internet) or if you are part of a social networking group you can make the information accessible only to group members.

To set up your Health Hub account and take advantage of all the features of the HUB you may want to look at completing the following tasks:

• Build Profile: When you join the Health Hub you should first establish your profile.  You can do this by clicking on the profile icon on the top of the page and inputting the required information.  Remember to include a picture of yourself if you have one.  Note that after you have filled in your profile information you can define what other information that appears on your profile page by clicking on the "edit page" hyperlink on the top right hand side of the profile page.

• Twitter: If you use Twitter you may want to set up your Twitter access by clicking on the "Settings" hyperlink in the top menu bar and clicking on "Configure Your Tools" and inputting the relevant access details.  This will allow any micro blogs you make on the Health Hubs "Wire" to be uploaded to your Twitter account.  It will also allow any of your Twitter posts to be listed on your profile e page (if you enable this function).  If you are having any problems link the wire to your Twitter account just make sure your "default Access level" is set to "public" (you can find this at: Settings->Change Your Settings->Your Default Access Level).

• Dashboard: This is the place you go to look at what is happening on the Health Hub which is relevant to you.  You can select what information you want to see on your dashboard by clicking on the "edit page" hyperlink on the top right hand side of the page.  You can then drag and drop the selected information widgets to your dashboard.  You can remove any information widgets that you do not want by dragging them back to the Widget list on the right hand side of the page.

• Explore Functions: Now that you have built your profile and set up the primary site functions you should explore the other functions of the Health Hub.  The Hub will allow you to create Groups as a way to attract people to an issue you wish to discuss, write Blogs on issues you feel are important, create web Pages that you can open up to others to modify, upload Files that you want to share with others, build Photo Galleries of images, Link up with your Twitter account, create Event Calendars, Contact Hub Members, invite Friends and build Groups of Friends.  You can find all these functions by clicking on the "Tools" hyperlink in the top menu bar.  You should experiment with these functions, and see what information tools work best for you.  Maybe you just want to listen, and that is ok, but we hope in time that you will start to contribute to conversations, and in fact start building conversations of your own.  Understanding the tools available in the Health Hub will help you do this.

• Groups: Groups are the places where you can join in on conversations.  These conversations could be specific to a task such as creating a policy paper, or they could be of a more general interest, such as the HealthBeyond group that looks to develop awareness around the opportunities and needs in the area of consumer e-health.  All groups require you to make a request to the group owner to join the group.   In the group area you will find private discussions, blogs, files, calendars and photo galleries specific to the interests of that group.

• Building your own Groups: You can create your own group by clicking on the group hyperlink on the top menu bar or clicking on the Group icon and then clicking on the create group link.  Then you fill out the information relevant to your group and upload your group logo (if you have one).  Before you save your group be  sure and select the appropriate Group type.  Once you have creates a group you can invite your friends or groups of friends to your group.  You can also invite other Groups to be part of your Group, this creates subgroups (using the invite friends hyperlink and selecting the group you want as a sub group).  I know it sounds a bit confusing, but play around with it and you will soon understand what is happening.

• Friends:  In the tools section (see top menu bar) you can click on the Friends hyperlink and invite people who are not part of the Health Hub to join the Hub as your friends.  You can also manage how these friends are allocated to your Friends Groups.  Remember you can also click on the Members hyperlink in the Tools menu and search the Health Hub for members who have public profiles and invite those members to the Health Hub.

• Registering:  Remember that all Health Hub registrations need to be verified by the Health Hub administrator.  This may take up to 24 hours.  While we understand that this is an inconvenience, it is important in making sure the site is secure from spammers and others who look to disrupt activities on web sites.

There are lots of ways to use the Health Hub to help advance healthcare.  Feel free to use your imagination in creating new and engaging conversations that will improve the way healthcare professionals understand each other and work together.

Last updated 403 days ago by Administrator