domain
Concern
lockedThe central object of work. Not 'case' — broader. A matter, claim, risk, decision, relationship, complaint, obligation, or investigation.
ERMA
Brief §6
Updated 2026-05-16 M
Definition
A concern is any meaningful object of care, responsibility, judgement, or operational movement.
Hearth places the concern at the centre. Workflow, documents, communications, data, AI, and tasks all orbit around it (see orbit).
The word concern is deliberately broader than case — case management is just one domain where concerns live. Risk management, complaints handling, claims processing, investigations, decisions, obligations, relationships, and projects all involve concerns.
Examples
A concern may be a:
- Legal matter
- Insurance claim
- Client relationship
- Complaint
- Investigation
- Risk
- Obligation
- Decision
- Service request
- Project
- Transaction
- Opportunity
- Incident
- Person needing support
What a concern has
| Aspect | Description |
|---|---|
| Identity | A stable reference. |
| Context | Surrounding circumstances and history. |
| History | Timeline of events, decisions, communications. |
| Participants | People connected to it. |
| Relationships | Connections to other concerns and external entities. |
| Documents | Files attached, created, exchanged. |
| Communications | Messages, calls, meetings. |
| Obligations | What must happen, by when. |
| Risks | What might go wrong. |
| Decisions | What was decided, by whom, why. |
| Tasks | Discrete pieces of work in service of the concern. |
| Lifecycle state | Where in the spine it currently sits. See lifecycle-spine. |
| Quality expectations | What “done well” looks like. |
| Governance requirements | Compliance, audit, regulatory obligations. |
| Possible next movements | Where the concern can go from here. |
What it is not
- Not a workflow. Workflows are tools the concern uses, not the concern itself.
- Not a database row. A concern is a thing of meaning, not a record.
- Not a folder. Folders are containers; concerns have lifecycle, relationships, and judgement attached.
- Not a ticket. Tickets are tasks. A concern may have many tasks across its lifetime.
Open questions
- What rule decides when a sub-thing becomes its own concern (vs. nesting inside)? (not yet asked in the brief; flagged in the seed reflection)
- How do concerns relate to each other? (not yet specified)
The first-pass minimum model now lives in concern-management.