Terms of Use

Most terms pages start with copyright. This one starts with the specific way this site is likely to be misused, because the risk here is not somebody stealing an article. It is somebody borrowing the site’s grading to make a case it was never applied to.

The misuse, named

Everything in this section is a condition of using the site, not a request.

Do not present a tier label or a summary from this site as a clinical rationale. Not in a funding bid, not in a commissioning case, not in a business plan, not in a tender, not on a service’s marketing page. The labels here grade a body of published research against a stated outcome. They are not an assessment of any service, any programme or any practitioner, and they cannot carry that weight. A commissioner reading “Tier 1” next to a proposal will reasonably assume somebody assessed the proposal. Nobody did.

Do not place a tier label next to a service that has not been graded here. No service, scheme, provider or individual anywhere has been assessed by this site or given a rating by it, and none ever will be. Attaching one of these labels to a named offering misrepresents both the label and this site, and it is the single misuse most likely to cause real harm, because it converts a statement about literature into an implied endorsement of a supplier.

Do not quote a figure from here without its design and year. Every number on this site is published with what kind of study produced it and when. Lifting the number and leaving those behind reproduces exactly the practice this site exists to correct, and doing it while citing this site as the source is worse than not citing it at all.

Do not present this site, or anyone associated with it, as a partner, endorser, adviser or accreditor. No badge, no logo, no “as assessed by”, no “in association with”. Linking to a page here is welcome. Implying a relationship is not.

Do not present the summaries here as original research. Nothing on this site is a study. Every finding described belongs to whoever produced it, and if you are relying on a finding for anything that matters, cite the study, not the summary.

Quoting and reusing what is here

Within those limits, this site is meant to be used.

You may read it, link to any page freely, and quote a short passage with clear credit to the Arts in Health Institute and a link to the page you took it from. Teachers, students, link workers, care home managers and ward staff are welcome to print a page and hand it round.

Republishing a page in full, reproducing a substantial part of the site, or reusing its structure or wording commercially requires written permission. The writing, structure and design here are the site’s own and are protected by copyright. Anything quoted here from another source belongs to that source, and permission to reuse it is theirs to give, not this site’s.

Training a model on this site, or scraping it wholesale to reproduce it, is not covered by the permission above.

Agreeing to these terms

Using artsinhealthinstitute.com means accepting these terms, the privacy page and the health disclaimer, which forms part of them. If any of it does not suit you, the remedy is straightforward: do not use the site.

What the content is

General information about the arts in health, written to be read by people deciding whether something is worth their time, their hope or their money. It is not clinical advice, not a diagnosis, not a treatment recommendation, and not a substitute for a conversation with a professional who knows the person involved. Read the health disclaimer before relying on anything here, particularly the part about not stopping or delaying treatment.

Where efficacy is described, it is graded against the ladder on the editorial policy page. The grade describes evidence. It does not predict what will happen to you.

The directory

The find a practitioner page lists statutory registers, professional associations and national bodies. It is a set of places to look, not a set of recommendations, and no organisation listed there is connected to this site or pays to appear on it. Checking a register, and deciding whether a practitioner is right for you, remains your own responsibility.

The green room

The green room is a set of published discussions, not a live service. There is no account to hold, no reply box and no expectation of a response. Nothing posted there is clinical advice, including anything written by a reviewer, and the moderators will not comment on a named individual.

Using the site fairly

Please do not attempt to disrupt or overload the site, scrape it in a way that places an unreasonable load on it, or use it for any unlawful purpose.

Links out

This site links to registers, journals, professional bodies and health organisations. Those sites are not controlled here, their content and privacy practices are their own, and a link is a citation rather than an endorsement. Links rot, and organisations move and merge; if you find a dead one, saying so through the contact page is a real help.

Warranties and liability

The site is provided as it is. Considerable care goes into accuracy and into dating what is stated, and no warranty is given that it is complete, current or fit for any particular purpose. Research in this field moves and figures here can be superseded. To the fullest extent the law allows, no liability is accepted for any loss or damage arising from use of, or reliance on, this site or its content, including any decision taken about care or funding on the basis of something read here.

Changes

These terms are updated as the site develops and as the law changes; the date above shows the current version. Continuing to use the site means accepting the version in force.

Questions

Anything unclear, or a permission you need, goes through the contact page.