Vocab- AARP

Question 1

Governmental agencies designated in the Older Americans Act of the United States Congress to coordinate the delivery of services at the local level supported by Federal funds. Usually comprises a city, county, or group of counties whose respective agencies serve as information and referral sources for families seeking assistance with the care of an aging family member, or for an aging citizen in his or her own behalf.

Answer 1

Agencies on Aging– Local Area or State

Question 2

(Identified by German neuropathologist Alois Alzheimer in 1906) the condition in which the subject suffers changes in memory, thought, personality, language and other characteristics, becoming progressively incapacitated and dependent until the occurrence of death, usually from a secondary cause.

Answer 2

Alzheimer’s Disease

Question 3

Services to provide minor home repairs, seasonal maintenance, or routine tasks that are beyond the physical capacity of the occupant. These can either be non-profit or for profit, and frequently under contract with an Area Agency on Aging to provide services to low income elderly, and often provided on a sliding fee schedule based upon the ability to pay.

Answer 3

Chore Services

Question 4

An individual, usually designated by a court to manage the financial assets of an incapacitated person. Generally used as a limited form of guardian; a protector, custodian.

Answer 4

Conservator

Question 5

The instrument of appointment of a person to protect, manage or conserve the assets of one who is incapacitated. Customarily applied to manage resources, and not the person, of the incapacitated ward.

Answer 5

Conservatorship

Question 6

A breaking of the law, either a misdemeanor or a felony; a violation of a statute or of the common law; to be tried in a criminal court.

Answer 6

Criminal Act

Question 7

The knowledge that one is performing an unlawful act; the intent to commit a crime.

Answer 7

Criminal Intent

Question 8

The American system of criminal justice; a network of police agencies, courts and correctional institutions with varying degrees of autonomy and interdependency, acting toward the common purposes of prevention and control of crime. The criminal justice system itself does not make laws, but upholds them. The responsibility is evident in the design of the three primary segments of the system: (1) enforcement, (2) adjudication, and (3) corrections.

Answer 8

Criminal Justice System

Question 9

An offense to be tried in a criminal rather than a civil court.

Answer 9

Criminal Offense

Question 10

In the context of abuse, to make illicit, unlawful or unethical use of, or to make a profit from, the labor or assets of another.

Answer 10

Exploitation

Question 11

Designating or of a person who holds something in trust for another; held in trust (as in property).

Answer 11

Fiduciary

Question 12

A person or agency, usually appointed by the court, who is given authority to control, manage, and protect a person and his or her financial and property assets. This person can be given authority to determine how finances are spent or invested, how and where a person lives, or how or when the person of concern is incapacitated and unable to make reasonable decisions regarding personal safety or property and asset management; and when there is no one available, capable, or willing to assume power of attorney. This person can be a relative or family member, or a total stranger (generally an attorney in the latter case, depending upon local court practices).

Answer 12

Guardian

Question 13

A special guardian appointed by the court to represent the interests of an individual declared to be incompetent, who is a party to a suit or certain litigation.

Answer 13

Guardian Ad Litem

Question 14

If the court finds that the proposed ward is incompetent in only certain aspects of life (e.g. forgets to pay bills), but retains capacity to function properly in other aspects (e.g. living and managing one’s own apartment), the court should appoint a guardian or conservator with powers to act only in the ward’s area of incompetence.

Answer 14

Limited Guardian

Question 15

A guardian appointed by the court, who is deemed to be an officer of the court. This person may be appointed to guardianship over many incompetent or incapacitated persons. The appointee may be paid for services from public funds or from assets of the incapacitated person of concern, if such funds are available. These determinations are made by the court.

Answer 15

Public Guardian

Question 16

A person, or agency, designated by the court to exercise control over the person and assets of an individual determined to be incompetent to do so. In this context, this means full, entire

Answer 16

Plenary Guardian

Question 17

Nursing, medication, nutritional, hygienic or other personal services provided to frail or invalid persons. Usually for short time periods; however, some forms of care can require daily visits for extended periods. Coordinated by hospitals, medical group practices, or Area Agencies on Aging.

Answer 17

Home Health Care

Question 18

Most commonly caused by medical conditions that tend to accompany aging, such as stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, accidents, mental illness, or heart conditions or other degenerative problems.

Answer 18

Incompetency (Incapacitated)

Question 19

A Latin term meaning “in the place of parents”. While usually used in cases involving the surrogate care of children, this term has been used in the context of long-term care of certain elderly, frail or incapacitated persons.

Answer 19

In Loco Parentis

Question 20

A person’s acting in behalf or in the interests of another upon request, or upon perceiving a need and governed by established criteria and accountability.

Answer 20

Intervention

Question 21

An attorney, legal consultant, or legal aid service organization that represents the interest of an individual or group of individuals, who usually are unable to represent themselves in matters of a legal nature.

Answer 21

Legal Advocate

Question 22

The legal responsibility or obligation to do or not to do a specific thing, or to behave in a certain manner. Failure to perform can result in civil or criminal prosecution, and penalties.

Answer 22

Liability

Question 23

A free-standing building or set-aside space in a larger structure (such as in a housing project) for the provision of low-cost or free nutritious meals for the elderly (over 60 years old) provided by funds authorized in the Older Americans Act. Coordinated by an Area Agency on Aging, as authorized by the same statute.

Answer 23

Nutrition Site

Question 24

A legal principle meaning that the state or the government can act to determine what is the best interests of an individual, even if the individual disagrees, on the basis of evidence of incapacitation or charges of personal or serious property mismanagement. Literally the “father of the country.”

Answer 24

Parens Patriae

Question 25

A public or non-profit service that acts on the suspicion or a report of evidence to determine if an adult is at risk for personal injury, harm, or less directly due to actions or inactions of others or to the personal inability to care for him or herself or property. These agencies generally undertake case management or referral until the charges are verified and resolved to the advantage of the individual or concern, or dismissed as invalid.

Answer 25

Protective Services, Adult

Question 26

Physical or psychological abuse of a spouse that has not been a characteristic of the marriage until one or both partners are advanced in age. Such mistreatment is associated with personal changes or altered circumstances that are linked to being elderly or to personal aging.

Answer 26

Spouse Abuse (Late-Onset)

Question 27

Physical or psychological abuse of a spouse; abuse that has been characteristic of the marriage for many years. With elderly couples, such abusive behavior has been part of the marital relationship for more than half of the marriage’s length. Causes for such mistreatment are not related t aging or to age-related events of the marital partners.

Answer 27

Spouse Abuse (Longstanding)

Question 28

An authorization, a signed document, usually to family members or business partners, to manage financial affairs in specific ways in the event of death.

Answer 28

Living Trust

Question 29

A trust in which the Trustee, fearful that the beneficiary will not handle his or her assets wisely, can use discretion in disbursing monies to the beneficiary.

Answer 29

Proactive Trust

Question 30

signed, dated and witnessed document which allows the subject to state in advance wishes regarding the use of life-sustaining procedures when dying. It also has a provision for the appointment of someone else to direct care if the subject is unable to do so.

Answer 30

Living Will