Care Management (also called Case Management): A service, typically provided by a nurse or social worker, that assists older adults and their caregivers in planning, arranging, monitoring and/or coordinating long-term care services.
Care Manager (also called Case Manager): A professional who finds and coordinates appropriate social and medical services for older people, those with disabilities and their families. (See also Geriatric Care Manager and Social Worker)
Care Plan (also called Treatment Plan): A medical document outlining the follow-up care, medications, and therapeutic or rehabilitative services that a patient should receive to achieve the treatment goal.
Caregiver: Individuals, typically family members or friends, who provide assistance to help meet the physical, psychological and/or social needs of another person.
Centenarian: A person who has lived 100 years or more.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS): Formerly the U.S. Health Care Financing Administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administers the Medicare program and works in partnership with the states to administer Medicaid and monitor Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) standards.
Chronic Care: Ongoing provision of medical and psychological care to enable people with serious, persistent conditions to maintain functional independence and well-being.
Chronic Illness: A long-term or permanent illness, such as diabetes or heart disease, that often results in some degree of disability and requires ongoing treatment.
Chronological Age: The number of years a person has lived.
Clinical Trial: Research done with people to compare and validate the effect of an unproven intervention or treatment with a control intervention or treatment. For more information on clinical trials, visit www.clinicaltrials.gov/.
Cognitive Impairment: A deficiency in a person's short-term or long-term memory; orientation as to person, place and time; deductive or abstract reasoning; and/or judgment. Typically this impairment is caused by an illness or injury, such as Alzheimer's disease, stroke or traumatic brain injury.
Co-morbidities: Multiple disease processes occurring at the same time.
Community-based Services: Services, such as adult day care programs, senior centers or respite programs available within a community. Services provide support for caregivers and help for older and functionally impaired people seeking to remain at home.
Companionship Services: Friendly visitor services - companionship, reading, light errands, etc. - provided by social service organizations, home care agencies or volunteer organizations.
Continence: The ability to maintain control of bowel and bladder function. The inability to maintain this control is incontinence.
Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC): Typically, a residential campus that provides a continuum of care – from independent apartments to assisted living to skilled nursing care – all in one location. The primary advantage of this model is that an individual or couple does not need to relocate as health care needs change over time.
Continuum of Care: A range of housing options and community and institutional services developed, organized and provided to address the variety of needs individuals have as they age.
Custodial Care: The provision of assistance with activities of daily living and related non-medical care. Medicare prohibits reimbursement for custodial care services provided in a private home or nursing home.