Policies | The Occupational Therapy Hub

Hub Policies
Platform updated: 22nd November 2024

Important notice from The Occupational Therapy Hub

Information and recommendations provided on The Occupational Therapy Hub's website (the 'platform') and The OT Hub App (the 'app', available on Android and iOS devices) have been shared by our global community. Whilst we review all pages, we cannot guarantee quality or accuracy of all information. Therefore, content should not constitute medical advice. We cannot take responsibility for consequences arising from the actions of professionals or the public using the Hub's platform or app.

Hub Membership Terms of Use

Member Terms

The Occupational Therapy Hub is a global community, shaped by its Membership.

To access the Hub, anyone can join as a Free Hub Member. Membership Plus+ is an optional upgrade. In joining, you must adhere to the Terms of Use ('Terms') below, as well as agree to our Privacy, Cookies and Communication Policies.

Your Hub Account and responsibilities

As an online membership platform and app, we actively encourage the sharing of information and content, for the benefit of the global community. At the same time, we ask that you acknowledge the following:

Please remember that you control what personal information you provide while using the platform and/or app
You are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your Hub Account and other actions you take on the platform and/or app
You must not create content that is inappropriate, misleading or unlawful; Hub Management may change or remove any such content
You are responsible for maintaining the security of your Hub Account information and its content; you must notify Hub Management of any unauthorised uses of your Hub Account, or any other breaches of security
We are not responsible for (and cannot control) the use by other Hub Members of information which you provide to them. You should exercise caution in selecting the information you share. Similarly, we cannot assume responsibility for the content of information which you receive from Members through the platform and/or app. You release us from any and all liability in connection with the contents of any information which you may receive using the platform and/or app.

Creating content

By creating content, you represent and warrant that:-

The Occupational Therapy Hub has the right to use (host, index and format) and display your content on the platform and/or app
Hub Management reserves the right to refuse or remove any content or terminate or deny access to use of the platform and/or app
Your Account is not named in a manner that misleads readers into thinking that you are anyone other than yourself
If your employer has rights to intellectual property you create, you have permission from your employer to make this available
The content does not contain or install any viruses or other harmful or destructive content
Downloading, copying and use of the content will not infringe the copyright, patent, trademark or trade secret rights of a third party
The content is not obscene, libellous or defamatory, hateful or racially or ethnically objectionable; it does not violate the privacy or publicity rights of any third party

Membership Plus+

Standard Hub Membership accounts provide access to a breadth of free resources
Upgrading to Membership Plus+ provides unlimited access to a wider range of resources, with priority response from the Hub Team

On purchase of a Plus+ plan, future recurring payments will be taken annually or monthly (as selected), from your chosen account. Please ensure your payment details remain up-to-date, for continued auto-renewal and access to your Membership Plus+ services.

At any point, The Occupational Therapy Hub may choose to transition Free Membership resources to Membership Plus+ resources (or vice versa). In its sole discretion, Management may also add, remove or change the services and resources offered, or the fees charged, at any time. Management will notify Hub Members of such changes, prior to any new or altered fees taking effect.

Changes to Terms

The Occupational Therapy Hub reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to modify or replace any part of the Terms. Whilst we notify Members of key changes related to platform and app Policies/Terms, it is your responsibility to check the Terms periodically for changes. Your continued use of the platform and/or app, following the posting of any changes to the Terms, constitutes acceptance of those changes. The Occupational Therapy Hub may, in future, offer new services and/or features through the platform and/or app (including the release of new tools and resources). Such new features and/or services shall be subject to the Terms.

Account termination

In the event that a Member breaches The Occupational Therapy Hub's Terms of Use, Hub Management may terminate access to all or any part of the platform and/or app at any time, with or without notice, effective immediately.

Member Comms

Member Communications / Cookies and Privacy

Cookies/Privacy

MEMBER COMMUNICATIONS ( Free and Plus+ )

Signing up as a Hub Member

When you register as a Hub Member, you will be asked to provide a name, email address and a private password, which will become part of your Hub Account information
The Hub securely stores Membership details provided (further details below)
Any information requested will be used to activate your account, provide the platform/app's services to you and communicate with you about the status of your Hub Account
Part of Membership, you receive periodic Member Newsletters* by email; these include CPD recommendations and service changes
The 'Sign up' screen includes a link to this Policies page, to review all policies prior to joining as a Member

Your Profile Page

Each Hub Member is given their own My Profile page; this can be accessed through the Member Bar, or via the Member Directory*
A public-facing My Profile page is optional. To activate this, visit My Details* and scroll down to 'Visibility and privacy'. (N.B. Only your My Profile tab will be publicly visible).
It includes the name used to sign up, alongside an optional profile picture and profile text - for the Member to promote their work in, or linked to, the occupational therapy profession
Other than storing it for you, we do not do anything with information here; it is there for networking purposes only
However, if information is posted that is deemed by Hub Management to be inappropriate or offensive, the Member will be notified and the information will be removed

* Requires logging in to access. Membership sign up here.

How can I edit or turn on/off communications?

Email alerts: To make adjustments, visit Settings* within your Hub Account
Therapy Forum alerts: To adjust email or platform alerts for a specific forum, click the 'Follow'/'Following' button
Member Newsletters: We send educative and CPD-related content periodically. These communications also keep Members updated about key service changes. If you no longer want to receive these, click the ‘unsubscribe’ link at the bottom of any newsletter

COOKIES AND PRIVACY: KEY POINTS

The Occupational Therapy Hub takes the privacy of its Members and visitors' information very seriously.

We adhere to the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (2016/679) and the UK Data Protection Act (2018).

Hub Management continually reviews its policies.

Personal information

We only collect, process and securely store personally identifiable information that you actively submit
Such information is used solely for us to provide you with our services, or respond to a communication
Once signed up as a Member, you can edit your 'My Profile' page; if you opt in, this can be publicly visible
As part of Membership, we send Member Newsletters, to the email address provided
No personally identifiable information is passed on to external organisations
You have the right to access and edit your information on the Hub, at any time; on email request and subject to proof of identity, you may access personal information that we hold, used or communicated and ask that any necessary corrections be made

Demographic data

Cookies allow Hub Management to understand anonymous visitor demographics and trends. In turn, this shapes and improves the service we provide you with. Cookies also allow any adverts shown to be more relevant
A Facebook pixel within The Occupational Therapy Hub's platform is used to gauge the efficacy of any social media adverts we run

Protecting your information

Information processed within The Occupational Therapy Hub is encrypted via secure HTTPS networks
Data is backed up securely in a cloud-based drive managed by our platform host

By using the platform or app and/or joining as a Hub Member, you consent to our Policies (signposted on the Sign up screen).

Personal information: what is collected, processed and stored?

The only personally identifiable information we collect, process and/or store is that which you actively submit. This may be your name, email address or other contact details that you provide us with. We do not transfer this information to other organisations, unless:

You provide us with explicit written authorisation, by email or post
It is necessary to comply with the law, or to protect the rights, property or safety of our Management, Team or Members

We collect information when you:

Sign up as a Hub Member (see above)
Register for OT Webinars*
Register and/or participate in OT CPD Courses*
Submit research for inclusion in the Research Portal*
Apply for a platform/app competition or promotion
Submit a podcast episode or series to the Podcast Portal*
Engage in communication, via an email or our Connect with the Hub form
Engage in Hub CPD, the collaborative professional development programme
Purchase a product, such as a PromOTe Partnership or an item in the Hub Store
Submit an entry to Access Occupational Therapists or the Service Directory
Upload a file to the Hub's cloud storage, such as when contributing content within OT Circles*
Upload content to Therapy Articles*; this is a moderated portal, with Member-generated content
Upload a post to OT Circles*, the Therapy Forum* or The OT Journal Club* - Member-generated content (moderated)

* Portals marked with asterisks require Member log in to use in full. Membership sign up here.

Demographics: what non-identifiable information tools do we use - and why?

Cookies: When surfing The Occupational Therapy Hub, cookies (non-identifiable data) may be placed locally on your computer. These can be used by Google Analytics, to allow Hub Management to establish general visitor demographics and trends. This allows us to better shape and refine our service. Such information may also be provided to Google Adsense, so that advertisements on the platform are relevant to you. Cookies do not disclose personally identifiable information about any visitors or Members
Facebook pixel: This is embedded within the platform and collects anonymised visitor data. This is used solely to allow Hub Management to gauge the efficacy of any advertisements run on social media

How do we protect your information?

We implement a variety of safety measures to maintain the security of your personal information:

The personal information you provide within this platform is secured within HTTPS networks. HTTPS is the protocol over which data is sent between your browser and The Occupational Therapy Hub site. The ‘S’ at the end of HTTPS stands for ‘Secure’. These communications are encrypted.
Data is backed up securely in a cloud-based drive. Member information is not stored in physical form.

Statements from our website host:
'If you are a visitor, user or customer of any of our Users [The Occupational Therapy Hub], please read the following: [website host] has no direct relationship with the individual Users-of-Users whose Personal Information it processes. If you are a visitor, user or customer of [The Occupational Therapy Hub] and would like to make any requests or queries regarding your Personal Information, please contact [Hub Management] directly. For example, if you wish to access, correct, amend, or delete inaccurate information processed by [website host] on behalf of [The Occupational Therapy Hub], please direct your query to [Hub Management] (who is the “Controller” of such data). If requested to remove any Users-of-Users’ Personal Information, we will respond to such request within thirty days.'

'The transmission of sensitive payment information (such as a credit card number) through our designated purchase forms is protected by an industry standard SSL/TLS encrypted connection; and we regularly maintain a PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards) certification.'
Other than a Member’s My Profile page - optionally viewable by the public - personal information can only be accessed by Hub Management; all management staff keep this strictly confidential

Rights to my information

You have the right to access and edit your information, at any time, through the web interface provided as part of the platform and app. On written request (by email) and subject to proof of identity, you may access the personal information that we hold, used or communicated and ask that any necessary corrections be made, where applicable, as authorised or required by law. However, to make sure that the personal information we maintain about you is accurate and up-to-date, please inform us of any change in your personal information by email.

Third party links

To provide a breadth of website content, third party links to useful, external resources and websites are listed. These are mainly found in: Access Occupational Therapists, Therapy Articles*, Therapy Forum*, OT Circles*, OT CPD Courses*, OT Updates*, Podcast Portal*, Therapy Videos* and Service Directory.

These external links (websites, videos, PDF documents, podcast platforms) have separate and independent privacy policies. We therefore have no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these links. Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our platform and app and welcome any feedback about these linked sites, including if a specific link does not work.

* Portals marked with asterisks require Member log in to use in full. Membership sign up here.

Changes to our policies

If our policies change, amendments will be posted here. Policy changes apply only to information collected after the date of the change.

Your consent

By using The Occupational Therapy Hub platform/app and/or joining as a Hub Member, you consent to our Policies.
Links to this Policies page are located within sign up sections.

Questions or feedback?

If you have any questions or comments - about our policies or your personal information, to make an access or correction request, to exercise any applicable rights, or to make a complaint - our Data Protection Officer can be reached by email: hubteam@theOThub.com.
Alternative methods of communication are listed on the Contact us page.

Registration with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)

Nature of work

Occupational therapy information service and networking website and application.

Description of processing

The following is a broad description of the way The Occupational Therapy Hub processes personal information. To understand how your own personal information is processed you may need to refer to any personal communications you have received, check any privacy notices the organisation has provided or contact the organisation to ask about your personal circumstances.

Reasons/purposes for processing information

We process personal information to enable us to provide a current, sustainable information service and networking service for our Hub Members and site visitors; to maintain our own accounts and records; to support and manage our staff team.

Type of information processed

We process information relevant to the above reasons and purposes. This can include:

Hub Membership details, within the Member Directory*
Therapy Articles* and Therapy Videos* content
Financial details, for Plus+ Members, PromOTe Partnerships and Hub Store customers
External resources within Access Occupational Therapists, Therapy Articles*, Therapy Forum*, OT Circles*, OT CPD Courses*, OT Updates*, Podcast Portal*, Therapy Videos* and Service Directory

* Portals marked with asterisks require logging in to use in full. Membership sign up here.

Who the information is processed about

To operate our service to you, we need to process information about:

Hub Members (Free and Plus+)
Members who participate in courses
Customers who purchase a product
Visitors who inquire about or submit files to the platform or app
External podcasts
External resources and services
External research
External occupational therapy practices
External occupational therapists

Who the information may be shared with

In very rare circumstances, in the interest of the public, the company or its Members' safety or security, other governing organisations may need to be contacted. Where this is necessary we are required to comply with all aspects of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (2016/679) and the UK's Data Protection Act (2018). In this instance, only when required of us, we would share information with:

employer associations
examining bodies
central government
suppliers and service providers
persons making an inquiry or complaint

Hub Store Terms of Use

Hub Store

For the attention of anyone using the Hub Store.

Please read these Terms of Use ('Terms') before purchasing items in the Store.

Charges

The Occupational Therapy Hub cannot issue refunds for digital products that are downloaded, as these cannot be returned
If you make a purchase, you agree that our third party payment gateways will securely store your payment information
If the payment method you provide has expired and/or valid payment information is not provided, the transaction will not occur

At any point, The Occupational Therapy Hub may choose to transition products from paid to free access (or vice versa). In its sole discretion, Management may also add, remove, update or modify a product, or the fees charged, at any time.

Management will notify Hub Members of such changes, prior to implementation of any new or altered costs.

Limitation of liability

You agree that, under no legal theory, will The Occupational Therapy Hub or its management or team be liable to you or any third party acting on your behalf for any indirect, incidental, consequential, punitive, or exemplary damages or losses, arising from or relating to the use of (or inability to correctly use) a product it provides.

General representation and warranty

Your use of the platform and/or app will be in strict accordance with these Terms, the Privacy, Cookies and Communication Policies, the Hub Membership Terms of Use and all applicable laws and regulations. These include, without limitation, any local laws or regulations in your country, regarding online conduct and acceptable content. These include all applicable laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported from the United Kingdom, or the country in which you reside
Your use of the platform and/or app will not infringe or misappropriate the intellectual property rights of any third party

Miscellaneous

If there is any dispute between you and The Occupational Therapy Hub, about or involving the Terms or a product, you hereby agree that the dispute will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United Kingdom, without regard to its conflict of law provisions.

PromOTe

PromOTe Partnerships Terms of Service

For attention of commercial partners and clients.

Please read these Terms of Service ('Terms') carefully before purchasing a PromOTe Partnerships plan. If you don’t agree to these Terms, as well as The Occupational Therapy Hub’s Privacy, Cookies and Communication Policies, you should not use our services.
If you are entering into the Terms on behalf of a company or other legal entity, you represent that you have the authority to bind such entity to the Terms.

Fees and renewals

The Occupational Therapy Hub cannot issue refunds for partial months of PromOTe Partnerships marketing
If you purchase one of our services, you agree that our third party payment gateways will securely store your payment card or other payment information

You expressly agree that we are authorised to charge you:

A fee for any applicable service which you have purchased, billed on a basis of the outlined and agreed plan period
Any charges for use of our service in excess of the usage or other limits placed on your use of our service (and you hereby consent to such charges)

If the payment card you provide expires and you do not provide new payment information or cancel your Account, you authorise us to continue billing you and you agree to remain responsible for any uncollected fees.

Limitation of liability

You agree that, under no legal theory, will The Occupational Therapy Hub or its owners, directors or team be liable to you or any third party acting on your behalf for any indirect, incidental, consequential, punitive, or exemplary damages or loss of profits (even if The Occupational Therapy Hub has been advised of the possibility of such damages), arising from or relating to the Terms or your use of or your inability to use the platform and/or app.

You agree that The Occupational Therapy Hub will not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as the result of any interactions or dealings with partners or advertisers, or as the result of the presence of such advertisers on the platform.

General representation and warranty

You represent and warrant that:

Your use of the platform and/or app will be in strict accordance with these Terms, the Privacy, Cookies and Communication Policies, the Hub Membership Terms of Use and all applicable laws and regulations. These include, without limitation, any local laws or regulations in your country, regarding online conduct and acceptable content. These include all applicable laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported from the United Kingdom or the country in which you reside
Your use of the platform and/or app will not infringe or misappropriate the intellectual property rights of any third party

Miscellaneous

If there is any dispute between you and The Occupational Therapy Hub about or involving the Terms or the service, you hereby agree that the dispute will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United Kingdom, without regard to its conflict of law provisions.

Copyright

The OT Hub Ltd is the legal copyright holder of the Portals, functions, designs, logos and names ('The Occupational Therapy Hub' and 'The OT Hub'), belonging to The Occupational Therapy Hub platform and app. Our content may not be reprinted, reproduced or modified without written consent. A link to The Occupational Therapy Hub's website (www.theOThub.com) must appear in all authorised copies of any content owned by The OT Hub Ltd.

Content uploaded by Hub Members, via their accounts, is copyright of its respective owners.

OT CPD Courses*

Courses and contents are owned by their respective hosts. External resources cited are owned by their respective external organisations.

OT Circles*, Therapy Forum* and The OT Journal Club*

Documents, uploads and external links are owned by their original creators/authors, not by The OT Hub Ltd.

Therapy Videos*

Video footage showcased within the 'Community Videos' channel is owned by its respective publishers, not by The OT Hub Ltd.

Podcast Portal*

Logos, audio content and embedded links to series and platforms are owned by their original creators/authors.

Research Portal*

Content uploaded is owned and copyrighted by the research author(s).

Hub Store

Assessments, documents, presentations and clinical and reflective tools are owned by The OT Hub Ltd, or their creators/authors.

Access Occupational Therapists / Service Directory

Logos, information and links to external resources and services listed here are owned by external organisations, not by The OT Hub Ltd.