| loss | when any aspect of self is no longer available to a person |
| death | cessation of life |
| greif | is a pattern of physical and emotional responses yo bereavement separation or loss |
| grief work | the process of adapting to and mourning a loss |
| mortality | the condition of being subject to death |
| grief therapy | mental health treatment aimed at helping a patient deal with the pain of loss; a program that assist the bereaved to cope with a loss |
| maturational loss | a loss that results from a normal life transition |
| situational loss | a loss that occurs suddenly in response to a specific external event, such as the sudden death of a loved one |
| Bereavement | is defined as the common depressed reaction to the death of a loved one |
| morbidity | (an illness or an abnormal condition) physical, and mental |
| anticipatory grief | to expect, to wait, or prepare for the loss of a family member or significant other |
| Bereavement overload | before an initial loss is resolved, it is compounded by an additional loss |
| thanatology | the study of dying and death |
| unresolved grief | signifies some disturbance of the normal progression toward resolution |
| complicated greif | unresolved grief or complicated mourning |
| dysfunctional grieving | is a delayed or exaggerated response to a perceived, actual, or potential loss |
| euthanasia | is sometimes active, a deliberate action taken with the purpose of shortening life to end suffering or to carry out the wishes of a terminally ill patient |
| Do-not resuscitate | DNR; only not to resuscitate |
| allow natural death | that one is going to die and forgoes aggressive treatment |
| living will | a legal document drawn up by a person who is not yet near death detailing how much medical care he or she wants to receive if terminally ill |
| durable power of attorney | a signed notarized document that appoints another person to make decisions in the event of the patients incompetence; usually completed by the patient while still able to function |
| advanced directives | are signed and witnessed documents that provide specific instructions for healthcare treatment if a person is unable to make these decisions personally at the time they are needed |
| palliative care | the prevention, relief, reduction, or soothing of symptoms of disease or disorders without affecting a cure |
| inquest | is a legal inquiry into the cause or the manner of a death |
| autopsy | Examination performed after a persons death to confirm or determine the cause of death |
| postmortem care | care for the patients body after death |
| mortician | person trained in the care of the dead |
| chronologic age | age of an individual expressed as time elapsed since birth ; may not be an accurate predictor of health or behavior |
| baby boomers | born between 1946 and 1964, more than 70 million people; approximately 29% of the nation |
| ageism | is a term that describes prejudice against older adults |
| sandwich generation | these are the individuals who are faced with caring for their parents while also caring for their own children |
| respite care | refers to the provision of care by nonfamily members with a goal of allowing the primary caregivers the opportunity for relief from the stressors or strains imposed by caring for an ill or debilitated family members |
| pruritus | older people may report dryness and itching of the skin |
| shearing forces | forces that can injure small blood vessels by sliding on a rough surface |
| dysphagia | difficulty swallowing |
| nocturia | urination at night |
| orthostatic hypotension | significant change in bp during position changes; lying, sitting, standing |
| claudication | cramping pain in the calves |
| kyphosis | is an abnormal curve in the upper spine sometimes called "dowager's hump" |
| presbyopia | Farsightedness resulting from a loss of elasticity of the lens of the eye |
| presbycusis | is a sensorineural hearing loss and the most common form of loss in older adults |
| senility | the state of mental and physical deterioration associated with aging |
| dementia | a progressive impairment of intellectual (cognitive) function |
| akinesia | an abnormal state of motor and psychic hypoactive |
| ataxia | impaired ability to coordinate movement, and drop attacks, falling without loosing consciousness |
| hemiplegia | paralysis on one side of the body |
| dysarthria | difficult, poorly articulated speech, resulting in interference in the control over the muscles of speech |
| aphasia | and abnormal neurologic condition in which language function is defective or absent because of an injury to certain areas of the cerebral cortex |
| terminal illness | a disease in an advanced stage with no known cure and poor prognosis |
| palliative care | preventing, relieving, reducing, or soothing symptoms of disease or disorders without effecting a cure; extends the principles of hospice care to a broader population that could benefit from comfort care earlier in their illness or disease process |
| curative treatment | is an aggressive care in which the goal and intent are curing the disease and prolonging life at all cost |
| primary caregiver | a person who assumes ongoing responsibility for health maintenance and therapy for illness |
| holistic | pertaining to the total patient care in which the physical, emotional, social, economic, and spiritual needs of the patient are considered |
| Interdisciplinary team | a multiprofessional health team who's members work together in caring for a terminally ill patient |
| psychosocial | a combination of psychological and social factors |
| respite care | a period pf relief from responsibilities of caring for a patient |
| bereavement | is a period of mourning or an expression of grief in reaction to the death of someone close |
| pain assessment | evaluation of the factors that alleviate or exacerbate a patients pain |
| adjuvant | Additional drug or treatment that is added to assist in the action of the primary treatment |
| titrated | slowly increased to the level at which the drug is therapeutic |
