G-H Geriatric Care Managers: Specifically trained professional in geriatric care management, who provide case management services to older individual clients on a fee-for-service basis. Gerontology: The study of the physical, psychological, and social aspects of aging. Grandfamilies: Families where grandparents or other relatives are primarily responsible in caring for a child or children who lives with them, often referred to as kinship care. Guardian: An individual appointed by a court of law to manage a person’s financial and/ or personal affairs because the court has found that the person is not competent to manage his or her own affairs. A conservator is similarly appointed, but only for financial affairs. Guardianship: The process where an individual is appointed by a court of law to manage a person’s financial and/or personal affairs when people are not able to or not competent to manage their affairs on their own. Health-Care Proxy: A power of attorney that allows an agent to make health care decisions for an individual who is incapable of making them. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA): This 1996 federal law enacted health insurance reforms to protect the health insurance coverage of workers (and their families) when they change or lose jobs, and under certain circumstances, people buying insurance on their own. It also includes provisions on administrative simplification and privacy standards for health care transactions and data, addresses health care fraud and abuse, offers tax deductions for health premiums paid by the self- employed and for the costs of long-term services and supports. Health Maintenance Organization (HMO): A health-care organization offering a range of health services to its members for a set rate that requires members to receive care only from health care professionals who are part of the organization’s selected network of providers. Home-Delivered Meals: Sometimes referred to as “meals on wheels,” home-delivered meals are hot and nutritious meals delivered to medically homebound seniors 60 years of age and older, who are unable to prepare their own meals and have no outside assistance. Senior Glossary
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Frequently Used Aging Terms
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