# How to model a family?

**Category:** [Entity/demographics](https://discourse.openehr.org/c/entity/112)
**Created:** 2024-10-08 06:56 UTC
**Views:** 47
**Replies:** 4
**URL:** https://discourse.openehr.org/t/how-to-model-a-family/5780

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## Post #1 by @linforest

In the context of family health management, how to model a family?
Is it better to use FHIR Resource(s) or openEHR Archetype(s) to model it?
When it comes to kinship, how to take privacy into account?

**Potential FHIR (v4.0.1) Resources**:
* [Organization](https://hl7.org/fhir/R4/organization.html)
* [Person](https://hl7.org/fhir/R4/person.html)
* [Patient](https://hl7.org/fhir/R4/patient.html)
* [RelatedPerson](https://hl7.org/fhir/R4/relatedperson.html)
* [FamilyMemberHistory](https://hl7.org/fhir/R4/familymemberhistory.html)
* [Bundle](https://hl7.org/fhir/R4/bundle.html)
* [Composition](https://hl7.org/fhir/R4/composition.html)

**Potential openEHR Archetypes**
* PARTY
* PARTY_IDENTIFICATION
* PARTY_RELATIONSHIP
* ADDRESS

**A rough sketch based on the FHIR resources** (*Not necessarily appropriate*)
Is it appropriate or necessary to use Bundle (type = "document") and Composition resources to organize  these resources?
![image|690x371](upload://mG3OQtG52iXDDs1eHV6FoczysAx.jpeg)

**Related Topic**:
* [How to use a FHIR Patient instance as an external reference](https://discourse.openehr.org/t/how-to-use-a-fhir-patient-instance-as-an-external-reference/5755)

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## Post #2 by @siljelb

Is this a use case where a whole family is under the care of a single healthcare provider over time, like a "family doctor" kind of situation? Or something else, like clinical genetics?

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## Post #3 by @linforest

[quote="siljelb, post:2, topic:5780"]
a whole family is under the care of a single healthcare provider over time
[/quote]
Something like that.  But the provider is not a traditional healthcare one.  Its business scope is not limited to traditional medical services, but also includes meals, entertainment, travel, and more.  Kinda SDOH...

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## Post #4 by @siljelb

I see. I would probably opt to represent the relationships themselves using the demographics service, and not in the health record itself. So whether you use a demographics-enabled openEHR CDR, a FHIR demographics server, or something else for your demographics, that's a potentially good way to go?

If going the openEHR DEMOGRAPHIC model route, a family could potentially be inferred from a certain type of relationships between persons, or an explicit 'Family' archetype could probably be created using the [GROUP class](https://specifications.openehr.org/releases/RM/Release-1.1.0/demographic.html#_group_class). For example [like this](https://specifications.openehr.org/releases/RM/Release-1.1.0/demographic.html#_group), but using "family" as the group designation instead of "cardiac surgery team"?

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## Post #5 by @linforest

Thanks, @siljelb.  IMO an explicit model would be desirable.

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**Canonical:** https://discourse.openehr.org/t/how-to-model-a-family/5780
**Original content:** https://discourse.openehr.org/t/how-to-model-a-family/5780