How We Curate¶
This page explains how resources are chosen, how they are verified, how often they are reviewed, and how claims are cited.
Evidence grades¶
Each resource carries a grade that names where its information comes from.
| Grade | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical | Published in peer-reviewed clinical literature or developed from instruments with external validation | BSFC-s caregiver burden screen, PRAPARE screening tool |
| Government | Official government program, agency publication, or statute | NFCSP, Medicaid HCBS waivers, ACL reports |
| Peer-reviewed | Academic research, systematic reviews, or data from recognized research institutions | AARP/NAC caregiving survey, Columbia caregiving index |
| Community | Reported by caregiving organizations, advocacy groups, or direct caregiver experience | Support group directories, community-reported resources |
The grade says where the information comes from. A respite provider reported by a community group can be as useful to a family as a government program.
How resources are selected¶
A resource is added when all four are true:
- Relevant. It addresses a caregiver need in at least one of the six domains.
- Active. The program, organization, or service is operating now.
- Verifiable. An official source confirms what it offers and who is eligible, with working contact details.
- Non-commercial. Paid services and products are excluded unless one is the only option in its category, and then the page says so.
How resources are verified¶
Resource pages show when they were last reviewed. Verification depends on the page type:
- Program pages. Eligibility criteria are confirmed against the program's official website or its authorizing law, along with phone numbers and URLs.
- Organization pages. Contact details and services are confirmed, along with the area the organization covers.
- Evidence pages. Statistics are confirmed against the cited publication.
- Guide pages. Claims are checked against the sources the guide cites.
How we use organization knowledge¶
Many caregiving organizations publish large libraries of guides, directories, webinars, and research. We cite the specific pages that meet a lasting caregiver need and leave the rest where it is.
An organization's pages are strongest on practical support: where to start, what to ask, what services exist, and how to get through a fragmented system. For a clinical decision, legal or tax advice, benefits eligibility, or what a state offers today, we look for a clinical, government, or statutory source, or we verify with the program directly.
A directory tells a caregiver where to look next. Each listing is verified before the wiki presents it as an active program or passes it to GiveCare's text service.
Review schedule¶
Each content type has its own review window. A page past its window is flagged for re-verification.
| Content type | Default stale window | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Government programs | 90 days | Eligibility and funding change with budget cycles |
| Organizations | 180 days | Contact info and services shift less frequently |
| Evidence/research | 365 days | Published findings are stable |
| Guides | 180 days | Best practices evolve |
A stale page stays up, flagged, until it is re-verified. Program pages withhold eligibility figures while re-verification is pending. A resource that has closed is marked closed, with the date it was last confirmed active.
Citations¶
Every statistic and major factual claim links to a source in the bibliography. An inline citation points to a source page, which gives the title, the author or organization, the year, the URL, and the findings we used.
A claim without a citation is a bug. If you find one, please let us know.
Publication boundary¶
The wiki publishes GiveCare's model and evidence, with their known limits. Operating metrics, prompt text, partner-specific outcomes, and tuned production parameters stay out. What We Share Here explains where that line sits.
Maintenance¶
- Source monitoring. Government publications, program updates, and new research are flagged for review.
- Assisted drafting. AI helps write source summaries and first drafts, and checks cross-references.
- Machine admission. A page is admitted only when it passes declared checks against its cited sources.
- Quality checks. Schema validation, staleness detection, orphan-page detection, and citation checks run during maintenance.
People set the standards and review changes to safety-relevant content. They decide what is included and what needs a caveat.
Limits of this wiki¶
The wiki is information. For a medical decision, talk to a healthcare provider.
It cannot respond to a crisis. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or text 741741 (Crisis Text Line).
Coverage is limited to widely available resources, so many local ones are missing. For help near you, contact your Area Agency on Aging at 1-800-677-1116.
GiveCare builds this wiki as a public resource that is free to use. Some pages link to GiveCare's text service.