Definitions
Active adult community: see independent living.
Activities of daily living: basic everyday activities such as eating, bathing, grooming, dressing, transferring, medication management, continence and toileting. Along with the instrumental activities of daily living, used by senior care providers and other health professionals to measure a senior’s functional status.
Aging in place: remaining in the same residence, even as health or cognitive needs change. Also: technologies and measures that support aging in place.
Assisted living facility: residential senior housing with supportive services and custodial care. Usually also offers meals, activities and housekeeping.
Care homes: also known as Adult Family Homes, Residential Care Homes or Personal Care Homes, are private residential homes that accommodate up to ten residents. Staff provides basic care assistance with activities of daily living, such as cooking, bathing and laundry and in some homes, nursing care is provided.
Care plan: a detailed document that identifies an individual resident’s health and cognitive needs and proposes methods for meeting those needs. Used in assisted living and home care.
Continuing care retirement community (CCRC): senior housing that offers a continuum of care, usually in a single location. Typically includes independent living, assisted living and nursing home care. See also life care community.
Geriatric care manager: a health and human service specialist who advocates for seniors and their families particularly in regard to senior housing and senior care issues.
Home care: custodial care provided in one’s home.
Home health care: skilled nursing care provided in one’s home.
Hospice: a medical facility or program for the terminally ill whose primary goal is to improve patients’ final days by providing comfort care, with a focus on meeting physical and emotional needs.
Independent living: residential housing for seniors, usually equipped with standard safety features. No personal or medical care is offered.
Instrumental activities of daily living: routine tasks that require a certain amount of physical dexterity, sound judgment and organizational skills, such as using the telephone, managing medications, preparing meals, maintaining the home, managing finances, shopping and using transportation. Along with the activities of daily living, used by senior care providers and other health professionals to measure a senior’s functional status.
Life care community: A type of CCRC that offers an extended care (i.e., life care) contract exclusively. See also continuing care retirement community (CCRC).
Long term care insurance (LTCI): private insurance that helps pay senior care costs. Depending on the policy, coverage is available by type of care and location that the care will be provided (e.g., home care or medical care in a nursing home).
Medicaid: a state-run public health program for low-income people and families with limited resources.
Medicare: a federal health insurance program for people 65 and older, certain disabled people under 65, and people of any age with end-stage renal disease.
Nursing home: a residential facility with 24-hour access to medical care. Rehabilitative services, meals, housekeeping and activities are usually offered as well.
Occupational therapy: a treatment that incorporates meaningful activity to promote participation in every day life.
Service plan: a detailed document that identifies an individual resident’s health and cognitive needs and proposes methods for meeting those needs. Used in nursing homes and home health care.
Skilled nursing facility: see nursing home.