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Terms to Know

Activities of Daily Living (ADL's): Describes daily activities including dressing, bathing, eating, toileting, transferring out of a bed or chair, and walking. Inability to perform one or more ADL's is often used as eligibility criteria for long term care services.
Adult Foster Care: A residential service provided through the Aged and Disabled Medicaid Wavier. Individuals who receive this service reside in a home with an unrelated primary caregiver and family, as well as up to two others that require this service, with a private bedroom, semi-private bathroom, home cooked meals, a common living area and assistance of daily living. Additional assistance can include personal care, homemaker, attendant care, companionship, medication oversight, and transportation.
Adult Protective Services: A community-based service that investigates cases of suspected elder abuse, neglect or endangerment.
Alzheimer's Disease: A progressive neurological disease that affects brain functions, including short-term memory loss, inability to reason, and the deterioration of language and the ability to care for oneself. An estimated 3% of people between the ages of 65 and 74 have Alzheimer's, rising to about half those age 85 and over. Currently, Alzheimer's disease is incurable.
Area Agency on Aging (AAA): Created by the federal Older Americans Act, AAAs represent a nationwide network of over 600 program sites. They are the focal point for aging concerns at the community level. Services include information and referral, case management, nutrition, employment, in-home services, counseling, legal services, senior employment, home repair, Pre-admission screening to nursing homes and day health care with an emphasis on ease of access.
Assistive Equipment: This term refers to a range of products and technology designed to help elders or people with disabilities lead more independent lives. Examples include special telephones for people with hearing impairments, walking aids, elevated toilet seats, communication devices, etc.
Care Management/Case Manager: A professional, typically a nurse or social worker, assists in planning, arranging, monitoring, or coordinating social and medical services needed.
Catheter: A medical devise used to control urinary incontinence using a receptacle bag
Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA): Provides personal care to residents or patients, such as bathing, dressing, changing linens, transporting and other essential activities. CNAs are trained, tested, certified and work under the supervision of an RN or LPN.
Charge Nurse: An RN or LPN who is responsible for the supervision of a unit within a nursing facility. The charge nurse schedules and supervises the nursing staff and provides care to facility residents.
CHOICE (Community and Home Options to Institutional Care for the Elderly and Disabled): A 100% state funded program that is designed to provide options for long-term care for the elderly and persons with disabilities. It provides supportive services to enable the individual to live independently in their own home or in community integrated settings. An eligibility screen is used to determine program eligibility and is based on deficits in the individual's activities of daily living. Candidates must have at least three deficit ADL's to qualify. There is no age or income restriction however there are a limited number of spots. Services may be include care management, home delivered meals, attendant care, home health aide, skilled nursing, therapies, behavior management, homemaker, home modifications, adult day services, adaptive aids and devices and respite care. There are cost share provisions for those individuals who can afford to pay for a portion of the services.
Chronic Condition: A disease or condition is one that lasts over a long period of time and typically cannot be cured, often associated with disability.
Clinical Nurse Specialists: Have extensive training in a subspecialty such as geropsych or ET or IV therapy. They help train family members to help care for the patient.
Co-payment: A charge you pay for a specific medical service. For example, you may pay $15 for an office visit or $10 for a prescription and your health plan pays the remainder of the medical charges
Cognitive Impairment: A deficiency in a person's short or long term memory, orientation as to person, place and time, deductive or abstract reasoning, or judgment. Typically related to an illness or injury (e.g., Alzheimer's disease, stroke or traumatic brain injury).
Community Based Services: Services designed to help older and functionally impaired people stay independent and remain in their own homes (e.g., adult day care, senior centers, CHIOCE, respite programs).
Companionship Services: Companions visit isolated and homebound elders for conversation, reading, and light errands. May also be termed "friendly visitor" services.
Congregate Meal Programs: Nutritional programs that provide lunches for older adults Monday through Friday in central locations such as senior centers, community centers, or schools.
CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation): Combination of rescue breathing (mouth-to-mouth resuscitation) and chest compressions used if someone isn't breathing or circulating blood adequately. CPR can restore circulation of oxygen-rich blood to the brain.
Cueing: Directing or supervising the actions of a person with a cognitive impairment (e.g., showing the person how to eat, giving visual or verbal reminders for dressing or toileting).
Custodial Care: Assistance with activities of daily living and related non-medical care. Medicare specifically prohibits reimbursement for custodial care services in-home or in a nursing home.