Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
A person of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent who identifies as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.
Activities of daily living
A set of activities necessary for daily living that include feeding, personal hygiene, dressing, movement and transferring. [1]
Activities of daily living domain
A domain under the Aged Care Funding Instrument which assesses a person’s capacity in relation to nutrition, mobility, personal hygiene, toileting, and continence. [2]
Advance care directive
An Advance Care Directive is a legal document that allows a person to make their future healthcare preferences known if they were to lose their capacity to make decisions. It will only operate when a person no longer has decision-making capacity. The law and forms for Advance Care Directives are different in each state and territory and the terminology used may vary as well (e.g. Advance Directives, Advance Health Directives). [1]
Advance care plan
A plan that states preferences about health and personal care, and preferred health outcomes. An advance care planning discussion will often result in an advance care plan. Plans should be made on the person’s behalf and prepared from the person’s perspective to guide decisions about care. [3]
Advance care planning
The process of preparing for likely scenarios near the end of life that usually includes assessment of, and discussion about, a person’s understanding of their medical condition and prognosis, values, preferences, and personal and family resources. Advance care planning supports a person in communicating their wishes about their end of life. [3]
Aged Care Assessment Team
A team of medical and allied health professionals employed by State and Territory Governments who assess older people for eligibility and level of subsidised aged care services. [2]
Aged Care Diversity Framework
An Australian Government strategy aimed at ensuring aged care services meet the needs of people from diverse backgrounds. [2]
Aged Care Funding Instrument
The instrument is used to measure the level of care each resident need, based on activities of daily living, resident’s behaviour, and complex health care. Outcomes are then used to allocate Australian Government subsidy to residential aged care providers to care for the residents. [4]
Aged Care Principles
A series of legislative instruments made under the Aged Care Act 1997 that set out the rules for government-funded aged care, including in relation to funding, allocation of places, approval of providers, quality standards, user rights, complaints and sanctions. They include the Accountability Principles 2014, the Quality of Care Principles 2014, and the User Rights Principles 2014. [2]
Aged Care Quality Standards
A set of standards for the provision of aged care that apply to all Australian Government subsidised aged care services. The standards are set out in Schedule 2 to the Quality of Care Principles 2014. [2]
Approved Aged Care provider
An organisation approved under Part 7A of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Act 2018 to receive subsidies from the Australian Government for providing home care, residential aged care or flexible care services, or a combination of these. [5]
Assistive technology
Devices and technologies that maintain or improve an older person’s functioning to facilitate safety, independence, social inclusion and enhance overall wellbeing. Examples include walking frames, shower chairs, pressure-relieving mattresses, personal and location monitoring technology or specialised software and hardware that increase hearing, vision, communication, social interaction, or cognitive stimulation capacities. [2]
Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC)
A proposed new assessment and funding model for residential aged care developed by the Australian Health Services Research Institute (AHSRI) at the University of Wollongong for the Australian Department of Health as part of the Resource Utilisation and Classification Study. [2]