Glossary

Senior living terms, defined

The words you will meet on tours, in contracts and in state records, each defined in one sentence first and explained after, with the California specifics where they matter. Last reviewed September 5, 2026.

A

Active adult community(55+ community): An active adult community is age-restricted housing, usually 55 and over, that residents own or rent, with amenities but no care services or meals.
Activities of daily living (ADLs)(ADLs): Activities of daily living are the basic self-care tasks, usually listed as bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring (getting in and out of a bed or chair), continence and eating.
Administrator: The administrator is the person in day-to-day charge of a licensed care facility; in California an RCFE administrator must hold a state certificate and complete continuing education.
Advance health care directive: An advance health care directive is a legal document stating a person’s wishes for medical treatment and naming an agent to make health care decisions if they cannot.
All-inclusive pricing: All-inclusive pricing is a senior living rate model in which one monthly fee covers room, meals, services and all personal care, regardless of how much help a resident needs.
Assisted living: Assisted living is a licensed residential setting where older adults live in their own apartment or room and receive help with daily activities such as bathing, dressing, meals and medications, without the medical supervision of a nursing home.
Assisted Living Waiver(ALW, Medi-Cal Assisted Living Waiver): The Assisted Living Waiver (ALW) is a California Medi-Cal program that pays for assisted living care for eligible Medi-Cal members who would otherwise qualify for nursing-home care, in communities enrolled in the program.

B

Base rent: Base rent is the monthly charge for the room, meals and standard services in a senior living community, before any care fees are added.

C

Care assessment(Pre-admission appraisal): A care assessment is the evaluation a community performs before move-in, and periodically afterward, to determine what help a resident needs and whether the community can safely provide it.
CDSS(California Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing): CDSS is the California Department of Social Services, whose Community Care Licensing Division licenses and inspects assisted living communities (RCFEs) and publishes their inspection and complaint records.
Community fee(Move-in fee, Entrance fee (assisted living)): A community fee is a one-time, usually non-refundable charge paid at move-in to an assisted living or memory care community, often equal to a portion of one month’s rent.
Conservatorship: A conservatorship is a court order appointing someone to manage the personal care or finances of an adult who can no longer do so and has no power of attorney in place.
Continuing care retirement community (CCRC)(CCRC, Life plan community): A continuing care retirement community offers independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing on one campus under a long-term contract, so residents can move between levels of care without leaving.

D

Discharge planner(Hospital case manager, Social worker): A discharge planner is the hospital or rehab staff member, usually a nurse or social worker, responsible for arranging where a patient goes and what care they need when they leave.

H

Home health: Home health is skilled medical care at home, such as nursing, physical therapy or wound care, ordered by a doctor and delivered by a licensed home health agency.
Hospice care: Hospice care is comfort-focused care for a person with a terminal diagnosis, delivered by a hospice agency wherever the person lives, including an assisted living community.
Hospice waiver: A hospice waiver is the state approval that allows a California RCFE to retain a resident receiving hospice care, whose needs would otherwise exceed what the license permits.

I

IHSS(In-Home Supportive Services): IHSS, In-Home Supportive Services, is a California Medi-Cal program that pays for in-home care hours for eligible low-income older adults and people with disabilities so they can stay at home.
In-home care(Home care, Non-medical home care): In-home care is non-medical help at home with bathing, dressing, meals, housekeeping, errands and companionship, provided by a caregiver from a licensed agency or hired privately.
Independent living: Independent living is age-restricted housing for older adults who need no daily care, with meals, housekeeping and activities offered as services rather than care.
Instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs)(IADLs): Instrumental activities of daily living are the tasks of running a life rather than caring for a body: managing medications and money, cooking, shopping, housekeeping, transportation and using the phone.

L

Level of care: Level of care is a community’s rating of how much personal assistance a resident needs, used to set the monthly care fee on top of base rent.
Licensed capacity: Licensed capacity is the maximum number of residents a care facility is permitted to house under its state license.
Licensee: The licensee is the person or company that holds a care facility’s state license and is legally responsible for its operation.
Life care contract(Type A contract): A life care contract, or Type A CCRC contract, prepays future assisted living and nursing care through the entrance fee and monthly fee, so the monthly charge stays roughly level as care needs rise.
Long-term care insurance: Long-term care insurance is a private policy that pays a daily or monthly benefit toward assisted living, memory care, nursing home or in-home care once the policyholder needs help with a set number of daily activities.
Long-Term Care Ombudsman(Ombudsman): The Long-Term Care Ombudsman is an independent, state-run program that investigates complaints and advocates for residents of nursing homes and assisted living communities, free of charge.

M

Match Report: A Match Report is the AI-written, per-family explanation on Senior Places of why a community fits, where it falls short, and what to confirm on a tour.
Match Score: A Match Score is the Senior Places rating of how well a specific community fits a specific family, computed from the family’s own quiz answers on care needs, lifestyle preferences, and budget against the community’s data.
Medi-Cal: Medi-Cal is California’s Medicaid program, the joint state and federal health coverage for people with limited income and assets, and the payer of last resort for long-term care.
Medicare: Medicare is the federal health insurance program for people 65 and over; it covers hospital and medical care and short-term skilled nursing or home health, but not assisted living, memory care, or long-term custodial care.
Medication management: Medication management is a community’s service of storing, tracking and helping residents take their prescriptions on schedule, usually billed as a monthly add-on.
Memory care: Memory care is assisted living designed for people living with Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia, in a secured setting with dementia-trained staff and a structured daily routine.

P

Placement agency(Referral agency, Senior living referral service): A placement or referral agency helps families find a senior living community and is paid a referral fee by the community when the family moves in.
POLST(Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment): A POLST form is a signed medical order, for people with serious illness, that tells emergency responders and care staff which life-sustaining treatments the person does and does not want.
Power of attorney: A power of attorney is a legal document in which a person appoints someone to make financial or health care decisions on their behalf, either immediately or when they can no longer decide for themselves.

R

RCFE(Residential Care Facility for the Elderly): RCFE stands for Residential Care Facility for the Elderly, the California license category that covers assisted living, memory care and board and care homes for residents aged 60 and over.
Residential care home(Board and care home, Six-bed home): A residential care home, or board and care home, is a small assisted living setting licensed for six or fewer residents, usually in a converted single-family house with live-in or shift caregivers.
Respite care: Respite care is a short-term stay in a senior living community, typically days to a few weeks, that gives a family caregiver a break or bridges recovery after a hospital stay.

S

Second-person fee: A second-person fee is the added monthly charge when two people, usually a couple, share one apartment in a senior living community.
Secured perimeter(Delayed egress, Secured unit): A secured perimeter is a memory care design in which exits are locked or alarmed so residents with dementia can move freely inside without wandering out.
Shared room(Semi-private room, Companion suite): A shared room, or semi-private room, is a bedroom in a care community occupied by two unrelated residents, usually the lowest-priced option.
Skilled nursing facility (SNF)(Nursing home, SNF): A skilled nursing facility is a licensed medical setting providing 24-hour nursing care and rehabilitation, for short-term recovery after a hospital stay or for long-term care of people who need continuous nursing.
Starting price: A starting price is the lowest monthly rate a community quotes, usually a shared or studio room at the lightest level of care, before care fees.
Studio apartment: A studio is a private one-room apartment in a senior living community, with a bathroom and often a kitchenette, and is typically the lowest-priced private option.
Sundowning: Sundowning is increased confusion, agitation or restlessness in the late afternoon and evening in people with dementia.

T

Tiered care pricing(À la carte pricing, Points-based pricing): Tiered care pricing is a rate model in which a community charges base rent plus a care fee that rises by level, or by points assigned to each task, as a resident’s needs increase.
Title 22: Title 22 is the section of the California Code of Regulations that sets the rules for licensed care facilities, including the staffing, care, records and physical-plant requirements RCFEs must meet.
Two-person assist: A two-person assist means a resident needs two caregivers to transfer, reposition or bathe safely, a level of need that many assisted living communities cannot accept.
Type A citation: A Type A citation is the more serious class of citation the California Department of Social Services issues to a licensed care facility, for a deficiency that poses an immediate or substantial risk to residents’ health, safety or personal rights.
Type B citation: A Type B citation is the less serious class of citation issued by the California Department of Social Services, for a deficiency such as incomplete records or a maintenance issue that does not pose an immediate risk to residents.

V

VA Aid and Attendance: Aid and Attendance is a benefit added to a VA pension for wartime veterans and surviving spouses who need help with daily activities, and it can be used toward assisted living or in-home care.

W

Wandering(Elopement, Exit-seeking): Wandering, or elopement when the person leaves the building, is the tendency of some people with dementia to walk off without awareness of danger, and it is the main safety reason families choose a secured memory care setting.