Helpful Terminology

Acute care is provided to those patients who are expected to recover from their medical condition and continue to live their normal life without further medical assistance after the recovery process.

Source: nlm.nih.gov

ADLs or activities of daily living are described as non-medical activities that are required at home. These include, but are not limited to: dressing, bathing, eating, and toileting. Most senior care company caregivers are the ones responsible for providing patients with assistance in this area.

Source: New LifeStyles

Adult Day Care Centers are designed to provide care and companionship for older adults who need assistance or supervision during the day. Programs offer relief to family members and caregivers, allowing them to go to work, handle personal business, or just relax while knowing their relative is well cared for and safe. There are two types of adult day care: 1) Adult social day care provides social activities, meals, recreation, and some health-related services. 2) Adult day health care offers intensive health, therapeutic, and social services for individuals with serious medical conditions and those at risk of requiring nursing home care.

Source: eldercare.gov

Advance directives are legal papers that tell your doctor and loved ones about the kind of care you want if you become very ill, and you can’t make choices for yourself. Some important advance directives to have are a living will, power of attorney, and a Do Not Resuscitate Order.

Source: Taking Control of Your Healthcare: A Guide for Seniors

Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. Symptoms usually develop slowly and get worse over time, becoming severe enough to interfere with daily tasks. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, and accounts for 60-80% of dementia cases.

Source: alz.org

Assisted living facilities provide individualized health and personal care assistance in a homelike setting with an emphasis on personal dignity, autonomy, independence and privacy. Facilities can be large apartment-like settings or private residences. Services include meals, bathing, dressing, toileting, and administrating or supervising medication.

Source: New LifeStyles

A family caregiver is someone who is responsible for attending to the daily needs of another person. Family caregivers are responsible for the physical, emotional and often financial support of another person who is unable to care for him/herself due to illness, injury or disability. The care recipient may be a family member, life partner or friend. (caregiver.org) A hired caregiver can be found through a qualified home health agency or independently, through online or social sources.

Continuing Care Retirement Community is a combined independent living, assisted living, and nursing in a single setting. Normally requiring an entry free, offering a living unit, meals, and healthcare up to the nursing level.

Source: New LifeStyles

A chronic illness or condition holds one or more of the following characteristics: permanency, residual disability, rehabilitation, requires long-term care, supervision, or observation. It is any condition or disease that cannot be completely cured and lasts for a long period of time.

Source: nlm.nih.gov

The percentage of the cost a person pays after he or she has paid their deductible.

Congestive heart failure, or CHF, is a condition that occurs when the heart cannot efficiently pump blood. Through the progression of the condition, the heart muscle walls may eventually weaken. As a result, the kidney begins to retain fluids and other parts of the body become congested.

Source: heart.org

The fixed price a person pays for a medical visit or service after their deductible has been paid.

A cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, is an emergency method used to care for someone whose heart stopped beating or has stopped breathing. CPR can be provided in the form of mouth-to-mouth breathing, pressing on the chest, using breathing tubes, or using electric shock to restart the heart.

Source: Taking Control of Your Healthcare: A Guide for Seniors

For those with a need for more intensive care such as rehab, therapeutic activities, meals and counseling, research your local adult day programs, which are often affiliated with hospitals, nursing homes, religious organizations and nonprofits. It can be a less expensive option than hiring in-home care.

Source: AARP

The amount the you have to pay out of pocket before your insurance plan kicks in and helps pay for medical costs.

Dementia a general term for a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life. Memory loss is an example. Alzheimer’s is the most common type of dementia, accounting for 60-80% of cases. Dementia is not a specific disease. It’s an overall term that describes a wide range of symptoms associated with a decline in memory or other thinking skills severe enough to reduce a person’s ability to perform everyday activities.

Source: alz.org

A do-not-resuscitate order, or DNR order, is a medical order written by a doctor. It instructs health care providers not to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if a patient’s breathing stops or if the patient’s heart stops beating. A DNR order allows you to choose whether or not you want CPR before an emergency occurs. It is specific about CPR. It does not provide instructions for other treatments, such as pain medicine, other medicines, or nutrition. The doctor writes the order only after talking about it with the patient (if possible), the proxy, or the patient’s family.

Source: nlm.nih.gov