Senior Living Definitions

AARP: (The American Association of Retired Persons). A non-profit organization engaged in activities such as education, lobbying, research, etc. for the benefit of the senior population. See www.aarp.com for more information.

Activities of Daily Living (ADLs): Activities that people do everyday - eating, bathing, dressing, transferring, toileting, grooming, and continence management.

Acute Care: Care for illness or injury that develops rapidly, has pronounced symptoms and is finite in length. Medical care that is required for a short period of time to cure a certain illness and/or condition.

Adult Day Care: A social, recreational and/or rehabilitative services provided for persons who benefit from daytime supervision.

Aging in Place: When an individual continues to live at home or within the community and is able to maintain residence as they progress in age and health.

Alzheimer's disease: A form of organic dementia resulting in premature mental deterioration, first described in 1906 by German neurologist, Alois Alzheimer.

Alzheimer's Facility/Community: Provides specialized care tailored to the special needs of individuals with these diseases. Many specialized care units are secure areas located within an assisted living community.

Alzheimer’s definition: A condition which affects the brain and may result in loss of memory, mood swings, speech imbalance, confusion/hallucinations and incontinence. Advanced stages of this disease generally require 24-hour care. Dementia – brain disorders that obstruct and diminish cognitive performance such as memory, judgment, personality and social function.

Aphasia: Loss of the ability to use or understand language, a common side effect of strokes.

Assessment: A determination of physical and mental status by a health professional based on medical guidelines.

Asset Protection: Willful legal planning to achieve protection from Medicaid ""spend-down" requirements, typically provided by irreversible trusts - recently outlawed by Congress except under specific conditions.

Assisted Living Facility/Community (ALF these facilities provide a way for older adults to live as independently as possible in a residential atmosphere with assistance and support. There are many types and sizes of facilities but they all generally provide meals in social settings and are staffed with people who can provide different levels of care with Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) like bathing, dressing, grooming, and medication management.

Care Management: Services provided by a professional such as a nurse of social worker to assess, coordinate, and oversee the services needed by an individual requiring long-term care.

Caregiver :The person (usually a relative) overseeing and providing the care for a person who is incapacitated.

Chronic Care: Care for an illness continuing over a protracted period of time or recurring frequently. Chronic conditions often begin inconspicuously and symptoms are less pronounced than acute conditions.

Cognitive Impairment: Refers to the loss or deterioration of mental capacity in people suffering from conditions such as Alzheimer's disease.

Cognitive Reinstatement: A provision to continue a policy which has lapsed (providing that back premiums are paid) when the cause of the lapse was due to cognitive impairment.

Continuing Care Retirement Community: A residential community providing a variety of living arrangements and services from independent living apartments to ALF and SNF care.

Custodial Care: Services that can be given safely and reasonably by a non-medical person, designed mainly to assist with ADLs, including bathing, eating, dressing and other routine activities.

Elimination Period: A specified time period of covered care where no benefits are payable. Ideally, should be selected as the longest period that you could sustain care costs using your available, expendable assets.

Intermediate Nursing Care: Assistance needed for stable conditions that require daily, but not 24-hour, nursing supervision. Such care is ordered by a physician and supervised by registered nurses. It is less specialized than skilled nursing care, often involves more personal care, and is generally needed for a long period of time.

Long Term Care (LTC): Also called custodial care. Assistance, expected to be provided over a long period of time, to people with chronic health conditions and/or physical disabilities who are unable to care for themselves without the help of another person.

Long Term Care Insurance (LTCI): Insurance available through private insurance companies as a means for individuals to protect themselves against the high costs of long-term care. Medicaid is a means-tested program supported by federal, state, and local funds and administered by each state to provide health care for eligible low-income individuals

Medicare: A federal government insurance program to assist those age 65 and over and the disabled with medical and hospital expenses. Medicare covers only skilled care in a skilled nursing facility and limited skilled nursing care at home. It does not provide benefits for personal or custodial care. Medicare requires co-payments and deductibles.

Medicare Supplement: Policies that are private insurance policies that supplement Medicare benefits by covering co-payments and deductibles for medical and hospital expenses. These policies do not provide coverage for personal or custodial care.

Nursing Home: A facility that provides room and board and a planned, continuous medical treatment program, including 24-hour-per-day skilled nursing care, personal care, and custodial care.

Personal Care: Refers to assistance provided by another person to help with walking, bathing, eating, and other routine daily tasks. It is provided by aides who are not medical professionals but are trained to help with these tasks.

Respite Care: Care that temporarily replaces the existing level of support received from a facility or caregiver for the purpose of providing care and supervision to the patient while relieving the primary caregiver.

Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF): A state licensed institutional setting which provides nursing and rehabilitative care provided by or under the direction of skilled medical professionals. Nursing care is available 24 hours a day and care is supervised by a house physician. Stays are usually for short term rehabilitation purposes and can be covered through Medicare. See www.medicare.com for more information.