Glossary
Glossary
| Term | Acronym | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Ableism | The discrimination of and social prejudice against people with disabilities based on the belief that typical abilities are superior (Access Living Definition) | |
| Accommodation | Modifications or adjustments in a workplace, educational institution, or other public or private environments that enable individuals with disabilities to perform their roles or participate equally. | |
| Accessibility | Accessible means a person with a disability is afforded the opportunity to acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services as a person without a disability in an equally effective and equally integrated manner, with substantially equivalent ease of use. | |
| Activity | The execution of a task or action by an individual. (WHO) | |
| Activity Limitations | Difficulties an individual may have in executing activities. (WHO) | |
| Activities of Daily Living | ADLs | Activities related to personal care, including bathing or showering, dressing, getting in and out of bed or a chair, walking, using the toilet, and eating. (CMS) |
| Biopsychosocial Model | The model was conceptualized by George Engle in 1977 to promote a holistic understanding of a person's medical condition. In addition to biological factors, we must consider the psychological and social factors. | |
| Bodily functions | The physiological functions of body systems (including psychological functions). (WHO) | |
| Body structures | Anatomical parts of the body such as organs, limbs and their components (WHO) | |
| Disability | A physical, mental, cognitive, or developmental condition that impairs, interferes with, or limits a person's ability to engage in certain tasks or actions or participate in typical daily activities and interactions. (WHO) | |
| Environmental factors | The physical, social and attitudinal environment in which people live and conduct their lives. These are either barriers to or facilitators of the person's functioning. (WHO) | |
| Functioning | An umbrella term for body function, body structures, activities and participation. It denotes the positive or neutral aspects of the interaction between a person’s health condition(s) and that individual’s contextual factors (environmental and personal factors). (WHO) | |
| Health Disparity | A health disparity would be a disparity in health conditions, morbidity, multimorbidities, health behaviors, risk factors, self-reported health. | |
| Healthcare disparity | A healthcare disparity on the other hand, would be a difference in service use, or treatments. | |
| Hospice | Hospice provides comprehensive comfort care for the patient and support for the family when attempts to cure the patient's illness have stopped. Hospice is provided for a person with a terminal illness whose doctor believes he or she has six months or less to live if the illness runs its natural course. | |
| Impairments | Problems in body function and structure such as significant deviation or loss. (WHO) | |
| Instrumental Activities of Daily Living | IADLs | Activities related to independent living. Including preparing meals, managing money, shopping for groceries or personal items, performing light or heavy housework, and using a telephone. |
| Intersectionality | The complex, cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of discrimination (such as racism, sexism, and classism) combine, overlap, or intersect especially in the experiences of marginalized individuals or groups. | |
| Medical Model of Disability | Within this model, disability is understood as a medical problem that resides in the individual. The goal of medicine is to try to cure, fix, or normalize the body. | |
| Participation | Involvement in a life situation (WHO) | |
| Participation restrictions | Problems an individual may experience in involvement in life situations.(WHO) | |
| Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly | PACE | Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) is a Medicare and Medicaid program that helps people meet their health care needs in the community instead of going to a nursing home or other care facility. |
| Social Model of Disability | Under this model, disability is understood as a social construct that is interactive with the environment and social attitudes. The individual with the disability is an expert in their own body but works with health professionals and others to make decisions about goals of treatment. Often, the remedy is external to the body and resides in the environment as well as changing social attitudes. |