Definitions and Terms
- Acute Illness – an Illness with an abrupt onset and usually a short course.
- Adult Day Health Care - a program that provides health and social services to assist physically and mentally challenged adults to remain living in the community.
- Advanced Directive – any document that specifies what kind of treatment an individual would want in the event of a major illness or injury.
- Assisted Living Residence – a place for people needing assistance with activities of daily living but who want to remain living independently for as long as possible.
- Dementia – a usually progressive condition marked by deteriorated cognitive function often with emotional apathy.
- Health Care Proxy – a legal document giving a trusted advisor, also called an agent, the responsibility for making medical decisions for an individual who has become incapacitated.
- Home Health Care – a program that provides care to individuals in their place of residence to promote, maintain or restore health or for minimizing the effects of disability or illness.
- Living Will – a general statement about an individual's approach to medical care, usually indicating that they don't want "heroic" measures taken if death is imminent.
- Long Term Care – a variety of services including medical and non-medical care for people who have chronic illness or disability.
- Medicare – a federal program that pays for certain health-care expenses for people 65 years of age and older.
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Definitions and Terms (cont'd)
- Medicaid – a program funded by federal and state governments, that pays for medical care for people who cannot afford to pay on their own.
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MOLST – Medical Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment – MOLST is an alternative form and process for patients to provide their end of life care preferences to health care providers across the spectrum of the health care delivery system.
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Palliative Care – is medical care that provides relief, but does not cure a patient's medical problem. It is often used in tandem with discussions of end-of-life or hospice care where a patient cannot be cured, but needs relief from pain and suffering.
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PRI – Patient Review Instrument, or PRI is a tool used to determine an individual's mental and physical abilities. These assessments are New York State law for candidates seeking placement in a skilled nursing facility.
- Rehabilitation – the process of restoring skills for a person who has had an illness or injury so as to regain maximum self-sufficiency and function in a normal or as near normal a manner as possible.
- Skilled Nursing Facility – a nursing facility with staff and equipment to provide 24 hr skilled nursing (a level that includes services provided by a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse) and/or skilled rehabilitation therapists.
- Transitional Care – rehabilitation
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