Is there a need for a "taxonomy of caregiving" ... a common language and knowledge structure that will help us collect conversations and stories, and provide access to content on home care and caregiving?

People and organizations in healthcare informatics talk a lot about taxonomies, but they tend to be focused in two areas:  medical research on the one hand, and practice- or patient-data applications for healthcare providers on the other.  People interested in social media and healthcare are typically focused on patient communities that self-organize around specific conditions, on health records accessible to patients, and on patient advocacy and participation in medical treatment.  This data tends to be condition-focused or policy-oriented.

These are all important issues, but there's an equally important area of opportunity for information technology and social media.  This is the "continuum of care" around long-term and chronic health issues, including the elderly and mental health.  There is no single term for this continuum, but "home care" and "caregiving" are often used. 

We're working on a couple of projects and proposals related to homecare and caregiving, particularly in relationship to the elderly.   Our partner organizations are steeped in more traditional ways of communicating with their clients and caregivingers, through face-to-face interaction and training as well as phone-based help lines.  We'd like to assist them in integrating the current generation of social media and online content delivery platforms into their services. 

We'd like to define a "taxonomy of caregiving" so that we have a common language to help us categorize the kinds of interventions, needs, services and scenarios that clients, caregivers and service providers are likely to face.  These are not the same as the conditions, disease, or treatments that are applicable to them as "patients".  Many of the same problems and interventions are applicable across conditions; relate to issues that are not medical at all (e.g. housing or social service needs); or apply not to the "patient" but to the caregiver.

We've found a few "caregiving taxonomy" precedents in previous research and we're looking for more.  We're hoping to start a dialogue with the caregiving community, as well as the healthcare-social media and health IT advocates, about how this taxonomy could be developed and utilized.  If there's anybody already working on this, please let us know.  All comments and ideas welcome!