Senior Care Terms: A California Glossary for Families

Quick answer: This glossary defines common senior care terms families encounter in California, including care settings (RCFE, board and care, SNF), payment programs (Medicare, Medi-Cal, ALW, SSI/SSP), legal documents (power of attorney, advance directive, POLST), and care concepts (ADLs, levels of care, hospice). Use it alongside conversations with doctors, care homes and placement advisors.

Senior care comes with its own vocabulary, and California adds terms of its own. Families often hear acronyms like RCFE, ALW, POLST and SNF in the middle of a stressful hospital discharge. This glossary of senior care terms explains them in plain language, with links to deeper guides where available.

A to C

• Activities of daily living (ADLs): basic self-care tasks such as bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, continence and transferring. Help with ADLs is central to assisted living and long-term care insurance benefit triggers.
• Adult day health care (CBAS): a Medi-Cal-covered day program with nursing, therapy and social services. See senior day care.
• Adult residential facility (ARF): a California-licensed home providing care and supervision for adults 18 to 59.
• Advance health care directive: a legal document naming a health care agent and recording treatment wishes.
• Aging in place: staying in one’s own home with support as needs change.
• Assisted living: a residential setting offering housing, meals and help with daily activities. Licensed as an RCFE in California. See assisted living in San Diego.
• Assisted Living Waiver (ALW): a Medi-Cal program that pays for care services, not room and board, in participating assisted living facilities.
• Board and care home: a small residential care home, often six beds, licensed as an RCFE. See board and care homes in San Diego.
• CalAIM Community Supports: optional services Medi-Cal managed care plans can offer, such as respite or help moving from a nursing home to assisted living.
• Care conference: a meeting to review a resident’s service plan with staff and family.
• Care level: a tier or points score that sets assisted living care fees.
• CDSS / Community Care Licensing: the California Department of Social Services division that licenses and inspects RCFEs. See assisted living licensing.
• CFRA: the California Family Rights Act, which provides job-protected family leave for eligible workers.
• Conservatorship: a court process that appoints someone to manage the care or finances of an adult who cannot do so.
• Continuing care retirement community (CCRC): a campus offering independent living, assisted living and nursing care, usually under a contract.
• Custodial care: non-medical help with daily living, which Medicare does not cover.

D to H

• Delirium: a sudden, often reversible change in attention and thinking, common after hospital stays.
• Dementia: a progressive decline in memory and thinking, including Alzheimer’s disease, vascular, Lewy body and frontotemporal dementia. See caring for a parent with dementia.
• Delayed egress: a door system that delays opening to help prevent residents with dementia from leaving unsafely.
• Discharge planner: a hospital or SNF professional who arranges a patient’s next care setting.
• Durable power of attorney: a legal document naming an agent to manage finances, which stays effective if the person loses capacity. See should I be power of attorney for my parents.
• Elimination period: the waiting period before long-term care insurance benefits begin.
• Estate recovery: Medi-Cal’s process of seeking repayment for certain long-term care costs from a deceased member’s probate estate.
• Geriatric care manager: a professional who coordinates care for older adults.
• HICAP: California’s free, unbiased Medicare counseling program.
• Home health: skilled, short-term medical care at home, often covered by Medicare. See home health care.
• Home care (in-home care): non-medical help at home, usually paid privately. See in-home care in San Diego.
• Hospice: comfort-focused care for people with a terminal illness, covered by Medicare. See hospice care in San Diego.

I to M

• IHSS: In-Home Supportive Services, a Medi-Cal program paying for in-home help.
• Independent living: senior housing with services but no personal care. See independent living in San Diego.
• Instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs): tasks such as managing money, medications, shopping, cooking and transportation.
• LTACH: long-term acute care hospital, for complex medical needs over weeks.
• Long-term care insurance: private insurance that pays toward care once benefit triggers are met.
• Long-Term Care Ombudsman: a free advocate for residents of nursing homes and residential care facilities.
• Medi-Cal: California’s Medicaid program. See our Medi-Cal eligibility guide.
• Medicare: federal health insurance for people 65 and older and some younger people with disabilities.
• Medicare Advantage: private plans that provide Medicare benefits.
• Medigap: Medicare Supplement insurance that helps pay Original Medicare costs.
• Memory care: dementia-focused residential care, often secured. See memory care facilities in San Diego.

N to R

• Needs and services plan: the written plan describing a resident’s needs and services in a California RCFE.
• Observation status: outpatient hospital status that does not count toward Medicare’s three-day inpatient rule.
• PACE: Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, combining medical care, day center and home help.
• Palliative care: comfort-focused care for serious illness, which can be given with curative treatment. See our palliative care definition.
• Personal needs allowance: the small monthly amount a Medi-Cal nursing home resident keeps.
• Physician’s report: a medical form California care homes require before admission.
• Placement agency: a service that helps families find senior living, usually free to families. See our senior placement agency.
• POLST: Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment, a medical order for people with serious illness.
• PRN medication: “as needed” medication given based on written instructions.
• RCFE: Residential Care Facility for the Elderly, California’s license for assisted living, memory care and board and care. See what a residential care home for seniors is.
• Respite care: short-term care that gives family caregivers a break.

S to Z

• Share of cost: the portion of income a Medi-Cal member pays toward care before Medi-Cal pays.
• SNF (skilled nursing facility): a nursing home providing 24-hour licensed nursing. See skilled nursing homes in San Diego.
• Special enrollment period (SEP): a time outside normal enrollment when someone can change Medicare plans.
• SSI/SSP: Supplemental Security Income and California’s State Supplementary Payment, which includes a board and care rate.
• Sundowning: late-day confusion and agitation in dementia.
• Supported decision-making: an arrangement where trusted people help someone make their own decisions.
• TB screening: a tuberculosis test or screening required for care home admission.
• VA Aid and Attendance: a VA pension benefit for eligible veterans and surviving spouses who need care. See veterans assisted living.

Frequently asked questions

What does RCFE stand for? Residential Care Facility for the Elderly, California’s license for assisted living, memory care and board and care homes.

What are ADLs? Activities of daily living: bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, continence and transferring.

What is the difference between home health and home care? Home health is skilled medical care; home care is non-medical help with daily activities.

What is a SNF? A skilled nursing facility, providing 24-hour licensed nursing care.

What is POLST? A medical order for life-sustaining treatment preferences for people with serious illness.

What is the Assisted Living Waiver? A Medi-Cal program that pays care services in participating assisted living facilities.

Conclusion: senior care terms

Understanding senior care terms makes conversations with doctors, care homes and benefits programs easier. Bookmark this glossary, use the linked guides for more detail, and ask professionals to explain any term you do not understand. When you are ready to compare options, start with a free senior care assessment.