Glossary
AAA - Area Agency on Aging
AARP - American Association of Retired Persons
Abuse - Abuse applies to injurious or improper treatment. Abuse can be of a physical, mental, or emotional nature.
Activities of Daily Living - This is a term that refers to those things that people do every day to take care of themselves, such as bathing, eating, dressing, and using the bathroom
ADC - Adult Day Care
ADHC - Adult Day Health Care
ADI - Alzheimers Disease Initiative
ADL - Activities of Daily Living
ADRC - Aging and Disability Resource Center
Advance Directive - Legal documents that let others know your end-of-life wishes in relationship to your future medical treatment
AFCH - Adult Family Care Home
Affordable Housing - dwellings consisting of rental units or forsale units. Both shall be economically within the means of the equivalent of the starting salary of a local elementary school teacher.
Age Discrimination Act - The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) protects individuals who are 40 years of age or older from employment discrimination based on age. The ADEA's protections apply to both employees and job applicants. Under the ADEA, it is unlawful to discriminate against a person because of his/her age with respect to any term, condition, or privilege of employment, including hiring, firing, promotion, layoff, compensations, benefits, job assignments, and training.
Aging in Place - Aging in Place is the concept that supports the aging process in a residential environment. The goal is to maintain independence with dignity in a safe and comfortable environment.
AHCA - Agency for Health Care Administration
ALF - Assisted Living Facility
ALW - Assisted Living for the Elderly Medicaid Waiver
ANE - Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation
Anxiety Disorders - Illnesses associated with feeling frightened or distressed for no apparent reason. Anxiety disorders include Panic Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Social Phobias, and General Anxiety Disorder.
Apartment - a dwelling unit sharing a building and a lot with other dwellings and/or uses. Apartments may be for rent or for sale as condominiums.
APS - Adult Protective Services
ARC - Aging Resource Center
Assisted Living - This is a term that refers to the housing arrangement for people who need assistance in taking care of themselves. Assisted living includes arrangements such as a continuing care retirement community, an assisted living community, a group home setting, or in one's own home utilizing in-home assistance with personal care, cooking, and/or assistance with housekeeping, etc.
Burnout - Physical, emotional, and/or mental exhaustion.
Caregiver - A caregiver is a person who is responsible for attending to the daily needs of another person. The care recipient may be a family member, life partner, or friend.
CARES - Comprehensive Assessment and Review of Long Term Care Services
CCE - Community Care for the Elderly
CIRTS - Client Information Registration & Tracking System
CIS - Client Information System
CM - Case Management
CMS - Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (formerly HCFA)
CNA - Certified Nursing Assistant
Congregate Meal Site - Sites (or centers) where seniors can go to eat lunch with one another
COW - Community Outreach and Wellness Program
CPSS - Community Partnership for Senior Services
Cross Contamination - The passing of bacteria, microorganisms, or other harmful substances indirectly from one surface to another
DCF - Department of Children & Family Services (formerly HRS)
Density - the number of dwelling units within a standard measure of land area, usually given as units per acre.
Depression - Persistent sad mood. Sufferers feel hopeless and/or helpless. It may be associated with physical ailments and/or from other losses.
Dietary Guidelines - Dietary Guidelines describe the nutritional components of a healthy diet. The USDA Dietary Guidelines emphasize fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products; lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts; and a diet low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt (sodium), and added sugars.
DOEA - Department of Elder Affairs
Durable Power of Attorney - This is a document (prepared in advance) that outlines what powers you give to another person to act on your behalf when you are unable to do so. You can use durable power of attorney for financial as well as health care matters.
EEOC - Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
EHEAP - Emergency Home Energy Assistance Program
Elder Transportation Council - Elder Transportation Council was created in 2005. It aims to prevent physical and mental health declines when older adults can no longer safely drive. Dedicated to the concept of Safe Mobility for Life, the Council aims to create and enhance mobility options through advocacy, collaboration, education and identification of resources.
F4A - Florida Association of Area Agencies on Aging
FCOA - Florida Council on Aging
FFS - Fee for Service
FHCA - Florida Health Care Association
Foodborne Illness - Commonly known as food poisoning, foodborne illness is caused by eating food that is contaminated by bacteria or other harmful substances. A foodborne illness can cause flu-like symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or fever.
Fraud - Theft through deceitful means.
Full-time Care - This is a term that refers to the housing arrangement for people who need full-time assistance in taking care of themselves. Full-time care arrangements include homes with 24-hour nursing services (often called skilled nursing facilities) or care in one's own home with a 24-hour caregiver.
General Anxiety Disorder - Chronically worrying about everday events without the ability to turn off the worry
GR - General Revenue
H&W - Health and Wellness
HCBS - Home and Community Based Services
HCE - Home Care for the Elderly
HCFA - Health Care Finance Administration - Now CMS - Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
HCI - Healthy Community Initiative
Health Care Surrogate - A health care surrogate serves as the decision-maker about health issues if you are not able to do so. You can limit the amount of authority that you give the person. Surrogate must be named in writing.
HHS - U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
HIPAA - Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
Home Care Services - A variety of services, typically for a fee, that are brought into the home of the older adult and may include such assistants as: home health aides, in-home physical or occupational therapists, nutritionists, and/or nurses.
Home Delivered Meal - Meals delivered to the home; most often associated with a nonprofit agency, e.g., Meals on Wheels
Hospice - A program model for delivering palliative care to individuals who are in the final stages of terminal illness
HUD - Department of Housing and Urban Development
I&R - Information & Referral
ICP - Institutional Care Program
Independent Living - This is a term that refers to the housing arrangement for people who need little or no assistance in taking care of themselves. Independent living includes all types of options such as apartments, town homes, and single-family homes. Independent Living residents includes those people who have remained in their homes as they have gotten older, as well as retirement communities, 55+ communities, "active" adult communities, etc.
Instrumental Activities of Daily Living - These activities are less related to personal needs and refers to those routine activities that people do every day such as paying bills, grocery shopping, cooking meals, cleaning the house, etc.
Internet - An interconnected system of networks that connects computers around the world.
IRIS - Information & Referral Information System
ITN - Independent Transportation Network
LAN - Local Area Network
Legal Aide Programs - Legal Aide Programs provide free quality legal advocacy to economically disadvantaged persons in order to improve their quality of life and to enhance their self-sufficiency.
Living Will - An document (prepared in advance) that lets people know what medical care you would want or not want to receive if you are seriously ill and cannot communicate. The purpose of a living will is to guide family members and doctors in deciding how aggressively to use medical treatments to delay death.
Long-Term Care Insurance - Private insurance that a person can purchase to cover or defray the cost of long-term care in a skilled nursing facility or at home. Specific terms of policies vary greatly.
LTCOC - Long Term Care Ombudsman Council
Managed-Care Plan - As one option of choice under Medicare, Managed-Care plans combine health insurance and health care in one pre-determined, comprehensive network of health care providers.
Medicaid - A program of federal and state governments in which states provide health care for low-income individuals of any age who have little or no assets. The federal government establishes general rules, but each state administers its own Medicaid program.
Medicare - A program of the federal government that provides health care coverage for people over 65 and some people with disabilities.
Medigap - This is a popular term for private insurance that individuals can buy to supplement the gaps in Medicare coverage.
MIS - Management Information System
MW - Medicaid Waiver
N4A - National Association of Area Agencies on Aging
NCOA - National Council on Aging
Neglect - To pay little or no attention to, to disregard, or to fail to care for properly.
OAA - Older Americans Act
OPPAGA - Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability
Palliative Care - Treatments that focus on comfort rather than cure
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder - Nightmares and flashbacks related to experiences during natural disasters, wars, physical injury, or or other disturbing events
Primary Care Physician - A family practice doctor or internist who provides primary care to the individual and who can, when needed, refer the individual to a medical specialist.
PSA - Planning and Service Area
Respite - Respite is a short period of rest or relief. It might be an afternoon, a day, or even a week off from caregiving responsibilities. Respite may be delivered in thecaregiver’s home or at a facility. Examples include adult dayservices or out-of-home respite programs, some of which areoffered by nursing homes for a fee.
RFP - Request for Proposal
Senior Center - A Senior Center is a gathering place that offers a variety of leisure activities for older adults. Some are open from early morning until late evening. Many are open on the weekends.
Setback - the area of a lot measured from the lot line to a building facade or elevation. This area must be maintained clear of permanent structures with the exception of: galleries, fences, garden walls, arcades, porches, stoops, balconies, bay windows, terraces and decks (that align with the first story level) which are permitted to encroach into the Setback.
SHINE - Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elders
Special Needs Individuals - Special needs Individuals are those with health or medical conditions who need assistance during a disaster.
SSI - Supplemental Security Income
STCM - Short-Term Case Management
TTY/TDD - Telecommunication Devices for the Deaf
Variance - an administrative technique granting relief from the provisions of a code.