These guidelines explain what to expect when you share a story, leave a comment, or reach out to Silent Voices Elder Advocacy, and what we expect from you in return.
1. Why We Have Guidelines
Silent Voices Elder Advocacy exists to help families navigating some of the hardest moments in their lives. Many of the people who comment, submit a story, or reach out through the contact form are dealing with grief, fear, or anger toward a system that failed someone they love. These guidelines exist to keep this an independent platform where people feel safe telling the truth, without it becoming a place that causes more harm than it prevents.
2. Sharing Your Story
We welcome first-person accounts of experiences with nursing homes, long-term care facilities, and the reporting or legal processes that follow. When you share your story:
- Tell us what happened as accurately as you can, including dates, locations, and facility names if you are comfortable providing them.
- Let us know if you want to remain anonymous or be identified by first name only.
- Understand that we may edit submissions for length or clarity before any content drawn from your story is published, and we will not misrepresent what you told us.
- Know that submitting a story does not guarantee it will be published or featured on the site.
See our Terms of Use for the full terms covering story submissions.
3. Comments and Public Discussion
If comments are enabled on a post or page, we expect the same basic respect we would expect in a family’s living room. That means:
- Disagree with an idea without attacking the person who raised it.
- Do not name private individuals (residents, staff members, family members) in ways that could expose them to harassment, unless the information is already part of the public record.
- Do not post anything defamatory, threatening, or knowingly false about a specific person or facility.
- Stay on topic. Off-topic promotion, spam, and unrelated solicitations will be removed.
We reserve the right to remove any comment and, in serious or repeated cases, to block a commenter from further participation.
4. Confidentiality and Anonymity
We take reasonable steps to protect the identity of anyone who asks to remain anonymous when sharing a story or reporting a concern. However, we cannot guarantee complete anonymity in every circumstance, particularly if information is later requested through a legal process outside our control. If confidentiality is essential to your situation, let us know before you share details, so we can talk through what we can and cannot protect.
5. What We Don’t Allow
The following will be removed, and repeated violations may result in being blocked from further contact with SVEA:
Harassment or targeted attacks against any individual. Hate speech or discriminatory language of any kind. Sharing another person’s private medical, financial, or identifying information without their consent. Threats of violence or self-harm. Deliberately false or fabricated accounts presented as fact. Spam, scams, or unrelated commercial solicitation.
If you are in crisis or experiencing thoughts of self-harm, please contact 988 (Suicide and Crisis Lifeline) or call 911. We are not equipped to respond to emergencies in real time through this site.
6. Reporting a Concern
If you see a comment or submission that violates these guidelines, or if you have a concern about how your own story was handled, contact us at contact@silentvoiceselderadvocacy.org. We read every message and will respond as quickly as we are able.
These guidelines are separate from reporting suspected elder abuse or neglect to a government agency. If you need to file that kind of report, visit our How to Report guide.
7. Changes to These Guidelines
We may update these Community Guidelines from time to time as the platform grows. When we do, we will update the effective date at the top of this page. Continued use of the site’s comment sections or story submission form after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated guidelines.