How We Curate¶
Every resource in this wiki is selected, verified, and maintained to a consistent standard. This page explains how.
Evidence grades¶
Every resource is assigned an evidence grade based on its source:
| Grade | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical | Published in peer-reviewed clinical literature or developed from validated instruments | BSFC-s burden scale, 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 |
Higher grades are not "better" — a community-reported respite care provider is as valuable as a government program. The grade tells you where the information comes from so you can assess it yourself.
How resources are selected¶
A resource enters the wiki when it meets all of these:
- Relevant to family caregivers — addresses a need in one or more of the six zones
- Currently active — the program, organization, or service is operational
- Verifiable — we can confirm eligibility criteria, contact information, and services through an official source
- Non-commercial — we do not include paid services or products unless they are the only option in a category (and we disclose this)
How resources are verified¶
Each resource page includes a verified date and a stale_after_days threshold. Verification means:
- Program pages: eligibility criteria, phone numbers, and URLs confirmed against the program's official website or authorizing legislation
- Organization pages: contact info, services, and geographic coverage confirmed
- Evidence pages: statistics confirmed against the cited source publication
- Guide pages: reviewed for accuracy against current best practices
Staleness policy¶
Resources have a staleness window (default: 180 days). When verified + stale_after_days < today, the resource is flagged for re-verification. This happens automatically via our lint process.
| 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 |
Stale resources are not removed — they are flagged and re-verified. If a resource is no longer available, it is marked as such with the date it was last confirmed active.
Citations¶
Every statistic and factual claim links to a source in our bibliography. Citations follow this format:
- Inline: footnote reference linking to the source page
- Source page: title, authors, year, URL, and which wiki pages cite it
- Bidirectional: source pages list all pages that cite them; resource pages list all sources they cite
If you find a claim without a citation, that is a bug. Please let us know.
Maintenance¶
This wiki is maintained by a combination of:
- Automated collection: new government publications, program updates, and research are flagged for review
- LLM-assisted drafting: AI agents draft resource pages and cross-references from verified sources
- Human review: every new resource and every significant update is reviewed by a human before publication
- Automated lint: schema validation, staleness detection, orphan page detection, and citation checking run on every build
The LLM does the bookkeeping — updating cross-references, flagging stale claims, maintaining consistency across pages. Humans do the judgment — deciding what to include, what to emphasize, and what matters.
What this wiki is not¶
- Not medical advice. Resources here are informational. For medical decisions, consult a healthcare provider.
- Not a crisis service. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or text 741741 (Crisis Text Line).
- Not comprehensive. We focus on the most impactful, widely available resources. Local resources vary — contact your Area Agency on Aging (1-800-677-1116) for location-specific help.
- Not a product pitch. GiveCare builds this wiki as a public resource. The wiki exists to help caregivers, not to sell software.