Social Media – Terms of Use

The Health and Supportive Care Providers Oversight Authority (HSCPOA) will begin registering Personal Support Workers (PSWs) on December 1, 2024, once the regulations come into force. Registration will be voluntary. The public, PSWs, and Ontario healthcare system partners are encouraged to follow HSCPOA’s pages on our established social media platforms – Facebook, LinkedIn and subscribe to HSCPOA’s YouTube channel.

Through its social media platforms, HSCPOA intends to:

• Connect with the public, PSWs and others;
• Share information, updates and guidance documents.

Usage Guidelines

Please keep the following principles in mind when posting and commenting on social media:

Professional – Engage in a professional and respectful manner with HSCPOA and your peers. Remember that your social media activity and behaviour reflects on you and your professional integrity.

Ethical –  Be an ethical social media user. Respect confidentiality and do not, under any circumstances, share confidential information about a recipient of health and supportive care services, case, employer or colleague. Do not discuss complaints and discipline matters (past or present).

Accountable – Be accountable for your social media use and knowledge. Ensure that the information you share is accurate and up to date. If you make an error, correct it promptly. When using a social media platform, such as Facebook for example, familiarize yourself with its user agreement, privacy policy and settings, and terms and conditions.

We recommend reviewing the following regulation:

• HSCPOA Code of Ethics – Section 28

Community Guidelines

• HSCPOA welcomes user participation and engagement with our content. However, we reserve the right to edit or delete our posts for clarification, or to remove comments at our discretion.

• Users may have their content deleted or hidden, and/ or may be removed or banned from HSCPOA’s social media account(s) if the content they post:

• • is abusive, obscene, or uses profane or offensive language;
  • is aggressive, malicious, or threatening;
  • is misleading or false;
  • discusses an ongoing investigation or discipline proceeding;
  • includes hateful, defamatory, discriminatory, or harassing remarks;
  • constitutes spam, advertises services or products, is off-topic;
  • includes personal or confidential information;
  • relates to a specific individual;
  • breaches a law, statute, regulation, order, code, standard, or rule;
  • is posted without the necessary rights or licenses;
  • encourages conduct that may or would constitute a criminal offence or give rise to civil liability, and/ or is contrary to the principles of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

• The submitter of comments and content is fully responsible for the comments and content posted.

• HSCPOA is not responsible for such comments and content, nor for any information, references, links, opinions, claims, or advice in such comments and content, nor to collect, review, use, update, edit, retain, return, dispose of, share, circulate, act on, consider, or respond to, any such comments and content.

Please notify HSCPOA’s Communications department if you see a comment, content, or user that you think does not comply with our Community Guidelines.

Disclaimers and Agreements

• The information HSCPOA posts on its social media channels should not be considered official HSCPOA policies or guidance. Users can access official HSCPOA policies and guidelines on HSCPOA’s website.

• By using any of HSCPOA’s social media sites (including without limitation by posting any comment or content), each user agrees:
  • not to facilitate or to encourage any violations of our Terms of Use.
  • by posting comments and content, the user is giving HSCPOA permission to use and distribute those comments and content.
  • to indemnify HSCPOA and to hold HSCPOA harmless from any liability, loss, damage or expense, including without limitation professional, legal and other fees and expenses, arising out of such user’s use of any of HSCPOA’s social media site(s), and any comments or content posted.

• Use of HSCPOA’s social media sites and their content is at each user’s own risk. All platforms and content are provided “as is.”
  • Users must not rely on any content published on or linked from our social media sites without first making their own enquiries to verify it is accurate, current, and complete.
  • External link sources may include, but are not limited to:
    • Government ministries, departments, commissions, boards, services, and agencies;
    • Offices of the Legislature;
    • Hospitals and other health institutions and organizations;
    • Universities and Colleges and other education providers;
    • News and media outlets and publications;
    • Community groups and organizations;
    • Professional associations, unions and individual personal support workers (PSWs)

• HSCPOA may follow and engage with other social media accounts, including various organizations, interested parties, members of the media, and health care providers.
  • HSCPOA’s decision to like, comment, follow, or share content and/or links from a particular user or organization should not be interpreted as endorsement of that user or organization, content of the post or website, or of any organization(s) linked to, or mentioned by the post. These do not necessarily reflect the views and values upheld by HSCPOA.

*This content is adapted, with permission, from the College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario; the original work is available on coto.com