Key Words Flashcards
Enabler
Someone who delivers person-centred care in a domiciliary (home) setting, which encourages independence.
Vascular Dementia
Symptoms include problems with language, memory and thought processes caused by problems in the blood supply to the brain, for example, through stroke.
Cartilage
The soft tissue that protects the surfaces of the bones.
Predictable Events
Events that are expected to happen at a particular time. While expected they may have a positive or negative effect on a person’s health and wellbeing.
Unpredictable Events
Events that happen unexpectedly and which may have serious physical and psychological effects on the individual. These effects can be positive or negative.
Lifestyle
How a person spends their time and money, a ‘style’ of living.
Values
Principles that we use to guide our thoughts and decisions.
Primary Socialisation
The process of a child learning the norms, attitudes and values of the culture and society in which they are growing up.
Secondary Socialisation
The process of learning appropriate behaviour in society. Influences include education, media, government and religion / culture.
Attitude
Assumptions that we use to make sense of our social experience.
Median
The middle value in a list of numbers written in numerical order.
Parenting Styles
A definition of the different strategies / ways that parents use to bring up their children.
Dysfunctional Family
A family that is not providing all of the support and benefits associated with being in a family.
Hypothermia
Excessively low body temperature, below 35 degrees.
Pollutant
A substance that contaminates something such as air or water and may make it unsafe.
Respiratory Disorders
Conditions affecting the upper respiratory tract, trachea, bronchi, bronchioles, alveoli, pleura and pleura cavity.
Cardiovascular Problems
Any disorder of disease of the heart or blood vessels.
Congenital
Present at birth.
Neural Tube Defects
Congenital defects of the brain, spine or spinal cord, such as spina bifida.
Susceptibility
AN increased likelihood of acquiring a disease because of an individual’s genetic make-up.
Genetic Predisposition
Inherited genes that determine physical growth, development, health and appearance.
Diathesis
A predisposition or vulnerability to mental disorder through abnormality of the brain or neuro-transmitters.
Negative Reinforcement
The behaviour is not repeated to avoid an adverse experience such as lack of satisfaction or to avoid being told off.
Positive Reinforcement
The behaviour is repeated because of personal satisfaction (intrinsic reinforcement) or rewards (extrinsic reinforcement).
Maturation
A genetically programmed sequence of change, for example the onset of the menopause.
Nurture
The influence of external factors after conception such as social and environmental factors.
Nature
Genetic inheritance and other biological factors.
Stranger Anxiety
When an infant becomes anxious and fearful around strangers.
Separation Anxiety
The fear and apprehension that infants experience when separated from their primary caregiver.
Privation
Being deprived of the opportunity to form an attachment.
Deprivation
Being deprived of a caregiver to whom an attachment already exists.
Self-concept (sense of identity)
An awareness formed in early childhood of being an individual, a unique person and different from everyone else.
Emotional Literacy
The ability to recognise, understand and appropriately express emotions. Emotional literacy is essential for forming positive social relationships.
Empathy
The ability to identify with or understand another’s situation or feelings. ‘Walking a mile in someone else’s shoes’.
Attachment
A strong emotional connection between a child and caregiver.
Self-image
The way an individual sees themselves, their mental image of themselves.
Self-esteem
How a person feels about themselves, self-worth or pride.
Accommodation
Modifying schemas (concepts) in relation to new information and experiences.
Disequilibrium
A state of cognitive imbalance between experience and what is understood.
Equilibrium
A state of cognitive balance when a child’s experience is in line with what they understand.
Concrete Logical Thinking
The ability to solve problems providing an individual can see or physically handle the issues involved.
Egocentric Thinking
Not being able to see a situation from another person’s point of view. Piaget thought that a young child assumed that other people see, hear and feel exactly the same as the child does.
Abstract Logical Thinking
The ability to solve problems using imagination without having to be involved practically. This is an advanced form of thinking that does not always need a practical context in order to take place.
Cognitive Impairment
When a person has trouble remembering, learning new skills, concentrating or making decisions that affect their everyday life.
Life Expectancy
An estimate of the number of years, on average, that a person can expect to live. Sometimes called longevity.
Menopause
The ending of female fertility, including the cessation of menstruation and reduction in production of female sex hormones.
Hormones
Chemical substances produced in the body and transported in the blood stream that control or regulate body cells or body organs. For example, the sex hormones produced by the ovaries and testes are responsible for the development of secondary sexual characteristics in puberty.
Puberty
A period of rapid growth during which young people reach sexual maturity, and become biologically able to reproduce and secondary sexual characteristics develop.
Adolescence
An important status change following the onset of puberty during which a young person develops from a child into an adult.
Fine Motor Skills
Involve smaller movements that require more precise direction (dexterity) and use smaller muscles, for example picking up a pencil.
Gross Motor Skills
Large movements that involve using the large muscles of the body which are required for mobility, for example rolling over.
Milestone
An ability achieved by most children by a certain age. It can involve physical, social, emotional, cognitive and communication skills, for example, walking, sharing with others, expressing emotions, recognising familiar sounds and talking.
Developmental Norms
A description of an average set of expectations with respect to a young child’s development. For example, by the age of 12 months a child has the ability to stand alone.
Centile Lines (Percentiles)
Lines on a graph used to show average measurements of height, weight and head circumference. The lines represent the values of the measurements taking into account age and sex.
Development
Complex changes including an increase in skills, abilities and capabilities.
Growth
An increase in some measured quantity, such as height or weight.
