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Glossary of Senior Related Terms

Access: In a healthcare context, this term usually refers to a person’s ability to find and obtain medical care or services.

Acute care: Short-term medical services provided to treat an illness or injury or to aid recovery from surgery. This pattern of care is often for a short period of time.

ADL (Activities of Daily Living): Things we do in normal everyday life — feeding ourselves, bathing, dressing, grooming, etc. The ability or inability to perform ADLs can be used as a practical measure of ability and can help determine what type of living arrangement or rehab someone might need.

AL (Assisted Living): A type of long-term care community for people who are able to get around on their own but who may need help with some activities of daily living.

Alzheimer’s Disease: A progressive and incurable disease that destroys brain cells, causing problems with memory, thinking, speech, and behavior, named after the German physician who first described it.

“Boomer”: A shortened form of “Baby boomer,” a term used to describe anyone who was born during the post-World War II baby boom between 1946 and 1964. The “boomer generation” is a diverse cohort of 76 million people.

CCRC (Continuing Care Retirement Community): A community that offers varying levels of care within the same system, allowing people to “buy in” at a set price and take advantage of more services and higher levels of care as they age.

Custodial care: Medical or non-medical services intended to maintain a current level of health, rather than curing or improving.

Dementia: Loss of memory and other intellectual abilities to a degree severe enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer’s Disease is one form of dementia.

Geriatrics: A branch of medicine that studies the diseases, disabilities, and health of older people.

HIPAA (Health Information Portability and Accountability Act): A legal act enforced by the Office of Civil Rights to protect the privacy of people who use various healthcare services.

Hospice: A care situation designed to enhance the final days of a patient diagnosed with a terminal illness who has less than six months to live. Hospice services are usually offered in the patient’s own home.

IL (Independent Living): Community living for people who are able to get around on their own and need no medical care or help with daily activities.
Inpatient: A person who has been admitted to a hospital for a stay of at least 24 hours to receive services under a doctor’s orders.

LTC (Long-term care): Care usually provided in a skilled nursing facility for people who need continuing assistance because of a physical or mental disability.

Long-term care insurance: Financial coverage for the costs associated with healthcare, including, in some cases, residential care or home care.

Medicare / Medicaid: Two distinct government programs offering financial assistance with health care expenses. Medicare is a federal program available to everyone aged 65 and older, and to some younger people with disabilities. Medicaid is a state-administered program specifically for lower-income families.

Palliative care: Any medical treatment that focuses on easing symptoms rather than curing the causative disease.

Preventive health services: Services designed to prevent a disease from occurring, or minimize its consequences

Private Duty: A type of care that is typically non-medical in nature, designed to help people with activities of daily living, such as preparing meals, doing laundry, or running errands.

Provider: Any healthcare professional or institution that offers health services or healthcare products.

Respite care: Short-term care given by another caregiver, for the purpose of giving the usual caregiver a rest.

SNF (Skilled Nursing Facility): An establishment that provides nursing care, rehabilitation, and other medical services to people who are chronically ill or elderly patients.

Tertiary care: Services from highly specialized providers that often require highly sophisticated technologies and facilities

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