- ADLs (actividades de la vida diaria)
- Activities of daily living: bathing, dressing, using the toilet, getting up from a bed or chair, bladder and bowel control, and eating. Medicaid and long-term care insurance look at how many of them a person needs help with to decide whether they qualify.
- Adult day care / adult day health care (centro de día para adultos)
- An adult day center. A social program offers activities, meals and supervision; an adult day health program adds nursing and therapy.
- Adult family home / adult foster home (hogar familiar para adultos)
- A state-licensed house where a few people (usually 2 to 8) live and get daily help, meals and supervision. The name varies by state.
- Area Agency on Aging (AAA)
- A local agency for older adults that gives guidance on services and programs. You can find yours with the Eldercare Locator (1-800-677-1116).
- Asilo de ancianos
- Spanish for what many families call a nursing home: a place with 24-hour nursing care. On this site, the Spanish pages say «hogares para adultos mayores» for nursing homes, assisted living and residential care together.
- Assisted living (vida asistida)
- Housing that offers help with daily activities, meals and supervision, without 24-hour nursing care. Each state issues the license. Medicare does not pay for it.
- Board and care / RCFE (hogar de cuidado residencial)
- A residential care home, often a house with only a few residents (for example, 6 in California). In California, the official name is Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE).
- Care plan (plan de cuidado)
- A document the facility or agency puts together with the family: what help the person needs, who provides it and how often. It is reviewed when needs change.
- Caregiver (cuidadora o cuidador)
- The person who helps with daily care. It can be a family member (a family caregiver) or someone who is hired, through an agency or directly.
- Caseworker / case manager
- A person assigned (by Medicaid, a program or the hospital) to coordinate your family member’s services and help you with the paperwork.
- CCN (número de certificación de CMS)
- CMS Certification Number: the number that identifies each nursing home certified by Medicare or Medicaid.
- CCRC (comunidad de retiro con cuidado continuo)
- Continuing care retirement community: a campus with several levels of care (independent living, assisted living and a nursing home). The person moves within the same community if they need more help.
- CMS
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: the federal agency that runs Medicare, coordinates Medicaid and rates nursing homes.
- Custodial care (cuidado de custodia)
- Help with daily activities that does not require health care staff. Medicare does not pay for it.
- Discharge planner (planificador de altas)
- The person at the hospital who arranges where the patient goes after leaving and what services they need.
- Home care (cuidado en casa)
- Agencies that send caregivers to the home to help with bathing, dressing, meals, medications and companionship. It is not medical care; depending on the state, it is called personal care, companion or homemaker services.
- Home health (salud en el hogar)
- Nursing or therapy at home, for a limited time and with a doctor’s order. Medicare covers it if the person cannot leave home without great effort.
- Hospice (hospicio)
- Comfort care for a person with a terminal illness, almost always at home or wherever they live. Medicare covers it.
- IADLs (actividades instrumentales)
- Instrumental activities of daily living, the tasks needed to live on your own: managing money, taking medications, cooking, shopping, using the phone, driving or using transportation. They are measured with the Lawton scale.
- IHSS
- In-Home Supportive Services: a Medi-Cal (California) program that pays for personal care at home for people who qualify.
- Level of care (nivel de cuidado)
- An assessment by the state or Medicaid to decide what type of place or service is right, based on how much help the person needs.
- Long-term care insurance (seguro de cuidado a largo plazo)
- Insurance that pays part of the cost of home care, assisted living or a nursing home, depending on the policy. You buy it before you need it.
- Long-term care ombudsman (defensoría de residentes)
- A free advocate for residents of nursing homes and assisted living. The ombudsman takes complaints and helps resolve them.
- Look-back period (período de revisión)
- Medicaid’s review period: when someone applies for Medicaid for long-term care, the state reviews gifts, or sales below value, from the previous years (usually 5 years). It is a good idea to get advice before transferring assets.
- Medicaid / Medi-Cal
- A health program for people with limited income and assets. It is the main payer for nursing homes in the U.S. In California it is called Medi-Cal.
- Medicaid waiver, HCBS (exención de Medicaid)
- Medicaid programs that pay for services at home or in the community, such as assisted living or personal care, so the person does not have to move to a nursing home. They vary by state and often have a waiting list.
- Medicare
- Federal health insurance for people 65 or older and some people with disabilities. It pays for short-term rehab in a skilled nursing facility, not for long-term care.
- Memory care (cuidado de la memoria)
- Specialized units or residences for people with Alzheimer’s or other types of dementia.
- Nursing home (hogar de ancianos)
- A place with 24-hour nursing care for people who need a lot of help or who are leaving the hospital. If it is certified, CMS inspects and rates it.
- Observation status (en observación)
- Being in the hospital “under observation” instead of admitted as an inpatient. It matters because Medicare requires an inpatient stay of at least three days before it will cover rehab in a skilled nursing facility afterward.
- PACE (Programa de Cuidado Integral para Ancianos)
- Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly: coordinated medical care and support for people 55 and older who qualify for a nursing home but can live in the community.
- Personal care home
- The name some states (for example, Pennsylvania, Kentucky or Georgia) use for residences that provide daily help, similar to assisted living.
- Power of attorney (poder notarial)
- A document in which a person authorizes someone they trust to manage their finances (financial power of attorney) or make health care decisions (health care power of attorney) if they cannot.
- Private pay (pago privado)
- When the family pays with its own money, without Medicaid or insurance. Many assisted living communities work this way.
- Respite care (cuidado de relevo)
- A short stay or temporary care so the caregiver can rest.
- Skilled nursing facility, SNF (centro de enfermería especializada)
- Medicare’s term for the part of a nursing home that provides rehab and nursing care after a hospital stay.
- Special Focus Facility (SFF)
- A CMS follow-up program: a small number of nursing homes get more frequent inspections and support to improve on certain standards. When they leave the program, they go back to the normal inspection schedule.
- Spend down
- Spending assets or income above the Medicaid limit on the person’s care until they qualify. The rules vary by state.
Senior care glossary
The terms you will hear at hospitals, agencies and senior living communities, explained in plain English, with the Spanish name when there is one.