Department of Health and
Human Services
Administration on Aging
Eldercare Locator
Glossary
This glossary provides a listing of frequently-used aging terms.
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Activities of Daily Living (ADLs)
Activities usually performed for oneself in the course of a normal day including bathing, dressing, grooming, eating, walking, using the telephone, taking medications, and other personal care activities.
Administration on Aging
The Administration on Aging (AoA), an agency in the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services is the official Federal agency dedicated
to policy development, planning and the delivery of supportive home and
community-based services to older persons and their caregivers. The AoA
administers the Older Americans Act and works through the national aging
network of State Units on Aging, Area Agencies on Aging, Tribal and Native
organizations representing 300 American Indian and Alaska Native Tribal
organizations, and two organizations serving Native Hawaiians, plus thousands
of service providers, adult care centers, caregivers, and volunteers.
Adult Day Care
Adult Day Care Centers offer social, recreational and health-related services
to individuals in a protective setting who cannot be left alone during the
day because of health care and social need, confusion or disability.
Area Agency on Aging
Under the Older Americans Act, the Administration on Aging distributes funds
for various aging programs through state agencies on aging with in turn fund
local area agencies on aging. Area Agencies on Aging address the concerns of
older Americans at the local level. They play an important role in identifying
community and social service needs and assuring that social and nutritional
supports are made available to older people in communities where they live.
In most cases, Area Agencies on Aging do not provide direct services. Instead,
they subcontract with other organizations to facilitate the provision of a
full range of services for older people.
Assisted Living Facilities
A facility that provides a combination of housing and personalized health care
in a professionally managed group-setting designed to respond to the individual
needs of persons who require assistance with activities of daily living. The
facility provides care to residents who cannot live independently, but who
do not require 24 hour nursing care. Terminology varies from state to state,
and a facility that is called an Assisted Living Facility in one state might
be called other things in other states, i.e. a Residential Care Facility (RCF),
Board and Care Home, a Domiciliary Care Facility, an Adult Care Home, or a
Community-Based Care Facility.
Assisted Technology
Assistive technology is any service or tool that helps the elderly
or disabled do the activities they have always done but must now do
differently. These
tools are also sometimes called “adaptive devices.” Such technology
may be something as simple as a walker to make moving around easier or an amplification
device to make sounds easier to hear (for talking on the telephone or watching
television, for instance).
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Care or Case Management
Case managers work with family members and older adults to assess, arrange
and evaluate supportive efforts of seniors and their families to remain independent.
Caregiver
A generic term referring to a person, either paid or voluntary, who helps an
older person with the activities of daily living, health care, financial matters,
guidance, companionship and social interaction. A caregiver can provide more
than one aspect of care. Most often the term refers to a family member or friend
who aids the older person.
Chore Service
Chore service is available to persons who are physically unable to perform
tasks, such as heavy cleaning, minor repair or yard work, and unable to secure
assistance from family or friends nor have the means to pay privately.
Congregate Meals
These meal programs provide older individuals with free or low cost , nutritionally
sound meals served five days a week in easily accessible locations. Besides
promoting better health through improved nutrition, meal programs provide daily
activities and socialization for participants which help reduce the isolation
of old age.
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Elder Abuse
Elder abuse is a term referring to any knowing, intentional, or negligent act
by a caregiver or any other person that causes harm or a serious risk of harm
to a vulnerable adult. The specificity of laws varies from state to state,
but broadly defined, abuse may be physical, emotional, sexual, exploitation,
neglect, and abandonment.
Elder Abuse Prevention Programs
Allegations of abuse, neglect and exploitation of senior citizens are investigated
by highly trained protective service specialists. Intervention is provided
in instances of substantiated elder abuse, neglect or exploitation.
Energy Assistance
These programs can provide low-income elderly homeowners and renters with funds
to help pay home utility and heating costs. Eligibility requirements may vary
from state to state.
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Friendly Visitors and Telephone Reassurance
These programs, which have different titles in different communities, provide regular personal or telephone contact for older persons who are homebound or live alone. Usually a volunteer provides the service. Besides developing friendships, perhaps a more important aspect of these programs is the volunteer's ability to identify needs of the individual as they occur and notify those who can help.
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Geriatric Care Managers
Geriatric Care Managers specifically trained in geriatric care management,
and provide case management services on a fee-for-service basis to individual
clients.
Guardian
An individual appointed by a court of law to manage a person’s financial
and/or personal affairs because the court has found that the person is not
competent to
manage his or her own affairs. A conservator is similarly appointed, but only
for financial affairs.
The process in which an individual is appointed by a court of law to manage a person’s financial and/or personal affairs because the person is not able to or is not competent to manage his/her own affairs.
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Home and Community-Based Services
A variety of supportive services delivered in community settings or in an
older person’s home are designed to help older persons remain living
at home and avoid institutionalization.
Home Delivered Meals
Sometimes referred to as “meals on wheels,” home delivered meals
are hot and nutritious meals delivered to homebound persons who are unable
to prepare their own meals and have no outside assistance.
Home Health Care
Home health care is recognized as an increasingly important alternative to
hospitalization or care in a nursing home for patients who do not need 24?hour
day professional supervision. Many people find it possible to remain at home
for the entire duration of their illness or at least to shorten their hospital
stay. In many cases readmission to the hospital can be prevented or delayed.
A variety of health services are provided in a home health care program in
the patient's home, under the direction of a physician.
Home Modification
Adaptation and/or renovation to the living environment intended to increase
ease of use, safety, security and independence. There are some local, state,
Federal and volunteer programs that provide special grants, loans and other
assistance for home remodeling, repair and modification.
Homemaker Service
Homemaker service is extended to individuals who are unable to perform day?to?day
household duties and have no one available to assist them. Services include
light housekeeping, laundry, limited personal care, grocery shopping, meal
preparation, and shopping assistance.
Hospice
Usually a combination of at-home and hospital care of the terminally ill that
combines medical and social services. It is designed to help both the patient
and the family. Hospice care emphasizes pain control, symptom management, and
emotional support rather than life-sustaining equipment.
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Information and Referral
Information Specialists are available to provide assistance and linkage to available services and resources.
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Legal Assistance
Legal advice and representation is available to persons aged 60 and over for
certain types of legal matters including government program benefits, tenant
rights, and consumer problems.
Long Term Care
A general term that describes a range of medical, nursing, custodial, social,
and community services designed to help people with chronic health impairments
or forms of dementia.
Long Term Care Insurance
This type of insurance policy is designed to cover long term care expenses
in a facility or at home.
Long Term Care Ombudsman
Long term care ombudsmen, state and local, work cooperatively with nursing
homes and board and care facilities to improve the quality of life for residents.
They serve as patient's rights advocates, investigating and negotiating resolutions
to concerns voiced by residents in matters of resident services and care.
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Medicaid
Medicaid is a health benefit program administered by States for people with
low incomes who meet other eligibility requirements. The health insurance program
is financed by the federal and state governments. Medicaid may also pay for
nursing home care if the individual’s income and assets are within certain
limits.
Medicare
The national health insurance program for eligible people 65 and older and
some disabled individuals. Part A covers hospital costs. Part B covers doctor
bills and other medical costs.
Medigap
Medigap is designed specifically to supplement and complement Medicare’s
benefits by filling in some of the gaps of Medicare coverage. Medigap insurance
policies are non-group policies that may pay for Medicare deductibles, prescription
drugs, or other services not covered by Medicare.
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The provision of short-term relief (respite) to families caring for their frail elders offers tremendous potential for maintaining dependent persons in the least restrictive environment. Respite services encompass traditional home?based care, as well as adult day health, skilled nursing, home health aide and short term institutional care. Respite can vary in time from part of a day to several weeks.
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Senior Centers
A vital link in the service delivery network which older persons may avail
themselves of, senior centers are functioning as meal sites, screening clinics,
recreational centers, social service agency branch offices, mental health counseling
clinics, older worker employment agencies, volunteer coordinating centers,
and community meeting halls. The significance of senior centers cannot be underestimated
for they provide a sense of belonging, offer the opportunity to meet old acquaintances
and make new friends, and encourage individuals to pursue activities of personal
interest and involvement in the community.
State Agencies on Aging
The Older Americans Act mandates that each state have a state agency on aging
which is part of state government. The State Agency on Aging is the designated
focal point within the state government responsible for administering a complex
service system designed to complement and support other human service systems
in meeting the needs of the elderly.
State Health Insurance Information Counseling and Assistance Programs
Known as SHIP, this program is comprised of 53 state programs and nearly 15,000
trained volunteers who offer unbiased, one on one counseling to assist Medicare
beneficiaries understand their health insurance benefits and options.
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Transportation
Programs that provide door-to-door transportation for people who may be elderly
or disabled, who do not have private transportation and who are unable to utilize
public transportation to meet their needs.
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