The details of a direct relationship between two individuals. It does not contain information about the individuals themselves, just the relationship itself.

Need to track relationships between individuals along with the attributes of that relationship such as:

• Represent relationship between two members
• Represent the certainty of the relationship
• Represent the temporal nature of the relationship (e.g., father/daughter is mostly persistent, but resident in household is very transient).
• Represent the role of the person within a group (e.g., the head of the household is the decision maker)

The source is the individual that is described by the relationshipType. In human language, you would say that source is the relationship of target.

For example, if the relationship is daughter, then the individual that is the .source is the daughter of the .target.

The relationship the source has with the target.

For example, if the relationship is daughter, then the individual that is the .source is the daughter of the .target. The terminology is a heirarchy so can use :is-a and other terminology style relationships in search. (i.e. a son is a form of a child)

The target is the individual to which the source is related. In human language, you would say that source is the relationshipType of target.

For example, if the relationship is daughter, then the individual that is the .source is the daughter of the .target.

The period of time during which this relationship is or was active. If there are no dates defined, then the interval is unknown.

If an individual has a relationship with a patient over multiple, non-adjacent periods, there should be a distinct PersonalRelationship instance for each period. For example, if a person is a roommate for a period of time, moves out, and is later a roommate with the same person again, you would have two PersonalRelationship instances.

Most social relationships are dynamic. For example, an on-again/off-again relationship could be represented as a single PersonalRelationship with multiple periods describing the "on-again" periods. Some relationships, such as biological relationships, may often be considered permanent (ignoring situations where paternity may be disputed). In cases where the relationships is considered permanent, the .period should be omitted.

A coded representation of the confidence in the validity of the relationship.

Sometimes relationship data is externally observed/reported and might not be of high quality. The confidence provides the level of certainty that the asserter had of the relationship.

The asserter of the relationship. Typically is the source of the relationship information. (The relationship was reported by ...).

Some relationships are applicable within the context of a specific group. Such as a caregiver within a specific household.