Health Care Power of Attorney
Legally appointed individual with power over health related decisions for a person who is incompetent.
Geriatric Care Management
Process of preparing and coordinating a health care plan for the elderly or disabled that will improve their quality of life by meeting their long term health care needs and allowing them to maintain independence as long as possible.
Fiduciary
Person legally appointed to protect the assets of another individual, which usually grants them legal power to make decisions for these assets.
Durable Power of Attorney
A power of attorney that stays in effect even after the person whom the document represents becomes incapacitated.
Conservator
A court-appointed person who acts as the legal representative of a person who is mentally or physically incapable of managing his or her own affairs.
Companion
Companions provide assistance with shopping, running errands, meal preparation, escorting, companionship, and home upkeep. This does not include personal care or nursing care.
Cognitive Impairment
The deterioration of one’s intellectual ability including the disorientation relating to people, places and/or time, the impairment of short-term and/or long-term memory and/or the impairment of one’s ability to reason. Cognitive impairment includes Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia.
Housekeeping Services
Services can include house cleaning, meal preparation, shopping and transportation. Medicare would not cover this service.
Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)
CNAs are trained and certified to help nurses by providing non-medical assistance to patients, such as help with eating, cleaning and dressing.
Dementia
Dementia is characterized by the loss of intellectual functions to the extent that a person’s daily functioning is affected. The cause and rate of the progression of dementia varies. Degenerative diseases that produce dementia include Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Strokes, metabolic disorders (thyroid, liver kidney dysfunction and certain vitamin deficiencies), AIDS, drugs and alcohol, and psychiatric disorders can also be causes of dementia.
Assisted Living Facility (ALF)
Assisted living facilities offer a housing alternative for those who need help with Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) but do not require intensive medial care.
Assignment of Benefits
A long-term care insurance policy provision which allows the insured person (or their legal representative) to have all, or a portion, of their benefits to be paid directly to the care provider.
Life insurance policy benefit that allows the insured person to use a portion of their policy’s death benefit before death for such things as long-term care.
Activities of Daily Living (ADL)
Basic self-care activities that people typically do every day without the help of others. Examples include: Eating, Toileting, Transferring, Bathing, Dressing, and Continence. Home care needs assessments are based on the inability to perform a certain number of ADLs.
Acute Care
Care provided for a medical condition that the person is expected to recover from. Once the patient has recovered, they typically do not require assistance with ADLs.
Adult Day Care Center
A non-residential facility that supports the daily living and social needs of adults in a professionally staffed, group setting. Most centers operate 10 – 12 hours per day and provide meals, activities, and supervision. Some day care centers focus on providing care only for persons with a specific condition such as Alzheimer’s, dementias, or other chronic condition.
Advance Health Care Directives
An advance health care directive is a legal document that states what actions are to be taken regarding one’s health if they are no longer able to make such decisions due to incapacity or illness. A Living Will is an example of an advance directive.
Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive, degenerative disease that attacks the brain and results in impaired memory, thinking and behavior that will eventually lead to death. It is the most common form of dementia.