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Resources for Caregivers of Older People |
To view terms listed beginning with a certain letter, click on character below. |
| AAA | Area Agency on Aging (also, Office for the Aging) |
| Activities of Daily Living | Basic activities that one does every day, i.e. eating, bathing, etc. |
| ADL | Activities of Daily Living |
| Adult Day Care | A group setting where caregivers take the care recipient for a day or part of a day for care, supervision, and/or socialization. |
| Advanced Directives | A living will or a health care proxy form. |
| Advocate | To plead in favor of; one who pleads in favor of another. |
| Alternative Medicine | Non-traditional medicine such as acupuncture, herbs, imagery, homeopathy, osteopathy, etc. |
| Assisted Living | Group housing that provides a range of services for the elderly who need supervision and help getting through the day. |
| Blood Pressure (BP) | The pressure exerted on the walls of any blood vessel by the blood |
| BM | Bowel movement |
| Burnout | The debilitating psychological condition brought about by unrelieved work stress. |
| Caregiver | One who renders direct or indirect care to another. |
| Care plan | A written plan for meeting the needs of an individual; usually written by a health care professional. |
| Catheter | A tube for evacuating or injecting fluids, as in a urinary catheter. |
| Certified Nursing Assistant | A person trained to assist another with personal care. |
| CNA | Certified Nursing Assistant |
| Cognitive | Having to do with awareness of perception, reasoning, intuition, and memory. |
| Commode | A portable toilet |
| Companion | A person who keeps another company, helping with minor tasks and watching over him. |
| Competency | Ability to receive and understand information and evaluate choices. |
| Congregate meals | Group setting where meals are served. |
| Dementia | A group of mental symptoms including severe memory loss, confusion, disorientation, delusions, personality changes, and difficulty with language and math. |
| Disability | Loss of some functional ability. |
| DNR | Do not resuscitate. |
| DOH | Department of Health |
| DSS | Department of Social Services |
| Durable Power of attorney | Power of attorney that remains in effect even when the person becomes incapacitated. |
| Estate Planning | Planning of a person's property and possessions through various means such as a will, durable power of attorney, advance directive, etc. |
| Family and Medical Leave Act | The 1993 Act that allows most employees to take up to twelve (12) weeks of unpaid leave from their job to care for an ill family member. |
| Geriatric care manager | A professional hired to oversee and coordinate care for an elderly person. |
| Guardianship | A legal proceeding where a person is declared incompetent and another is named to take over some or all of his decisions, duties, and legal rights. |
| Health care proxy | Appoints a health-care agent, or proxy, who can make medical decisions on a person's behalf, interpret written instructions and respond to changing health and medical needs. |
| HHA | Home health aide |
| Home Care | Physical care given in the home. |
| Home health aide | A person to assist with personal care, some medical care, and light housekeeping. |
| Homemaker | A person to assist with light housekeeping, laundry, cooking, and some errands. |
| Hospice | The philosophy and practice of caring for the dying. |
| HMO | Health Maintenance Organization |
| Incompetency | A legal decision that defines a person's inability to make decisions, receive and understand information, evaluate choices and communicate decisions to others. |
| Incontinence | Inability to control either bladder or bowel movements. |
| Living will | A document that states a person's wishes in the event that he is unable to make decisions about medical care. |
| LPN | Licensed Practical Nurse |
| LTC | Long Term Care |
| Managed care plans | Health insurance and health care combined. These plans are what people usually refer to as health maintenance organizations (or HMOs) but they include HMOs and competitive medical plans (CMPs). |
| Medicaid | The health insurance program provided by the federal government for low income people. |
| Medical Alert Systems | A "help" button worn as a bracelet or necklace used for medical emergencies in the home. |
| Medicare | The health insurance program provided by the federal government for people over 65 years of age or for people with some disabilities under the age of 65. |
| Medigap | Private health insurance that fills some , but not all, of the holes in Medicare coverage. |
| NA | Nurse's Aide- one trained to assist another with personal care. |
| NP | Nurse Practitioner |
| OFA | Office for the Aging |
| Ombudsmen | One who helps resolve complaints for residents of extended care facilities. |
| OT | Occupational Therapy or Therapist |
| PFT | Pet facilitated therapy; the therapy that maintains that having some pet to care for boosts people's emotional states and physical health. |
| Power of Attorney | The document by which one person authorizes another to act legally on his or her behalf- to sign checks, enter into contracts, and buy or sell property, for example. |
| PRI | Patient review instrument; a document used to determine the type of care a patient needs based on their functional abilities. |
| Private duty help | A trained person who is hired to care for another exclusively. |
| Probate | The court proceeding in which creditors are paid and an estate is divided after death. |
| Proprietary home | A supervised home for persons who are unable to live independently. |
| PT | Physical Therapy or Therapist |
| Quality of Life | A person's ability to enjoy life's activities. |
| Resident's Bill of Rights | A list of rights which are guaranteed by law in long term care facilities. |
| Respite | Care designed to give the primary caregiver relief on a short term basis. |
| Restraint | Physical or mechanical device used to restrict movement. |
| RN | Registered Nurse |
| RSVP | Retired senior volunteer program |
| Sandwich generation | Those individuals who are raising their own children while caring for an aging relative. |
| SSA | Social Security Administration |
| SSI | Supplemental Security Income: SSI is available for people with low incomes who are elderly or have a disability, and is based on need. |
| Sundowner's syndrome | Confusion and anxiety that develops at sundown. |
| Support group | A group of people, usually strangers, who share a common bond and who meet to share feelings, reduce stress, and learn ways to help themselves. |
| SW | Social Worker |
| TDD | Telephone Device for the Deaf |
| Testamentary trust | A trust set up after a person dies. |
| TRAID | Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities |
| Trusts | A way of holding money, property, or other assets that protects them from taxes, keeps property out of probate, and gives a measure of control over assets. |
| TTY | Teletypewriter |
| Will | A legal document that describes a person's assets, property, and belongings and explains how they are to be doled out after the person dies. |
updated 12/18/2007