Senior Care Glossary
Plain-language definitions for the terms families encounter while navigating senior care — from ADLs to Medicaid HCBS Waivers, written and reviewed by clinicians and elder-law attorneys.
Glossary terms
Plain-language definitions for senior care terminology, payment programs, legal planning, care types, and clinical support needs.
- DNR (Do Not Resuscitate)
- A Do Not Resuscitate order addresses only one specific situation — cardiac or respiratory arrest. It does not stop pain medication, antibiotics, surgery, or any other treatment. The most common misconception in end-of-life planning.
- Elder-Law Attorney
- Elder-law attorneys specialize in the legal issues that arise as families age — Medicaid and long-term care planning, advance directives, special needs trusts, guardianship, and more. The CELA designation is the gold-standard credential, recognized by the American Bar Association.
- POLST (Portable Medical Orders)
- A POLST translates a seriously ill patient's wishes for end-of-life care into a portable medical order that paramedics, hospitals, and nursing homes are legally required to follow. Different from an Advance Directive — and often more operationally consequential.
- Healthcare Proxy
- A Healthcare Proxy is the New York and Massachusetts term for what most states call a Healthcare Power of Attorney — a document appointing someone to make medical decisions if you lose capacity. Same purpose, different name.
- Living Will
- A Living Will records your wishes about life-sustaining treatment — CPR, ventilation, feeding tubes — for when you're terminally ill or permanently unconscious. Different document from a Last Will and Testament, despite the similar name.
- Advance Directive
- An Advance Directive is the umbrella legal document recording your medical wishes if you can't make decisions yourself — typically a Living Will plus a Healthcare Power of Attorney. Most state forms are free; most families don't need a lawyer.
- Power of Attorney (POA)
- A Power of Attorney is one of the most important legal documents in senior care — and one of the most often delayed. Most families need two: a financial POA and a healthcare POA, both made durable, both established while the senior still has capacity.
- VA Long-Term Care Programs
- The VA's long-term care system is broader than most families realize. Beyond Aid and Attendance, it includes 100+ Community Living Centers, 175 State Veterans Homes, contracted nursing homes, in-home care, adult day services, and hospice.
- VA Aid and Attendance
- Aid and Attendance is the VA pension enhancement that pays for senior care — in-home help, assisted living, memory care, or nursing home. Up to $3,845 per month in 2026 for qualifying wartime veterans and surviving spouses.
- Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCI)
- Long-term care insurance pays for nursing home, assisted living, memory care, and in-home care that Medicare doesn't cover. Triggered by ADL or cognitive impairment.
- HCBS Waiver (Home and Community-Based Services Waiver)
- Home and Community-Based Services Waivers are how Medicaid pays for personal care, home modifications, and (in many states) assisted living services — letting seniors stay home instead of moving to a nursing home. Often involves waiting lists.
- Medicaid
- Medicaid is the joint federal-state program that pays for what Medicare doesn't — long-term nursing home care, in-home personal care, and (in many states) some assisted living services. Eligibility rules vary by state and require both income and asset limits.
- Medicare
- Medicare is federal health insurance, not long-term care insurance. It covers hospitals, doctors, short-term skilled nursing, and prescription drugs — but not assisted living, memory care, or most nursing home stays.
- Rehabilitation
- Post-acute rehabilitation happens in either an Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (intensive, hospital-level) or a Skilled Nursing Facility (less intensive, longer stay). The setting choice shapes recovery outcomes and Medicare costs.
- At-Home Care
- At-home care covers both non-medical home care and medically necessary home health care. Two different services, two different payers — here's the difference.
- Independent Living
- Independent living is senior housing with amenities and social programming, but no personal care. Median cost around $3,100 per month, paid privately.
- Nursing Home
- A nursing home provides 24-hour skilled care for seniors who can't live at home safely. Medicaid is the primary payer; CMS Care Compare rates every facility.
- Palliative Care
- Palliative care is symptom and pain relief for any serious illness — at any age, at any stage, alongside curative treatment. Different from hospice.
- Hospice
- Hospice is comfort-focused care for people with a terminal illness and a life expectancy of six months or less. Medicare covers most services in full.
- Memory Care
- Memory care is specialized senior living for people with dementia, with secured environments, dementia-trained staff, and structured therapeutic programming.
- Assisted Living
- Assisted living combines housing, meals, and personal-care help for seniors who need daily support but not nursing-home medical care. State-licensed, mostly private-pay.
- Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC)
- A CCRC, or Life Plan Community, offers independent living, assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing on one campus — with four main contract types.
- Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF)
- A Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) provides short-term medical care after a hospital stay. Medicare covers up to 100 days per benefit period — here's how it works.
- Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs)
- IADLs are the eight skills — phone, shopping, cooking, housekeeping, laundry, transport, medications, finances — that show if a senior can live independently.
- Activities of Daily Living (ADLs)
- Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) are the six basic self-care tasks — bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, transferring, continence — that determine senior care needs.