Pennsylvania Code › Title 6 - AGING › Part I - Department of Aging › Chapter 21 - DOMICILIARY CARE SERVICES FOR ADULTS › GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 21.2 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter,
					 have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
					 otherwise:
AAA (Area Agency on Aging)
-The governing
					 authority designated by the Department within each planning and service area to
					 develop and administer an area plan, or the person, agency or organization
					 which is the subcontractor of the AAA.
Applicant
-A person who applies for
					 domiciliary care service or the domiciliary care supplement, either personally
					 or through a responsible adult.
Assessment
-A determination based upon a
					 comprehensive review of an applicant's social, physical and psychological
					 status along with a description of the applicant's current resources and
					 needs.
CAO (County Assistance Office)
-An office
					 located in each county of this Commonwealth which is responsible for local
					 administration of the programs under the Department of Public Welfare.
Case record
-The file maintained on each
					 applicant and client to include pertinent information gathered in assessing
					 need and developing a care plan. The term includes information regarding social
					 supports, activities of daily living, nutrition, physical health and
					 environment, mental and economic status and recent experiences. The term also
					 includes tangential action taken for, or on behalf of, an applicant or client,
					 including, but not limited to, activities done with, for or on behalf of a
					 client, such as contacts with formal and informal service providers, and the
					 like.
Client
-A resident of this Commonwealth who
					 is 18 years of age or older who has applied for, and has been determined to be
					 eligible for, domiciliary care service or the domiciliary care
					 supplement.
Communicable disease
-An illness due to a
					 specific infectious agent or its toxic products which arises through
					 transmission of that agent or its products from an infected person to a
					 susceptible host, either directly or indirectly through an intermediate plant
					 or animal host, or the inanimate environment.
Department
-The Department of Aging of the
					 Commonwealth.
Designate
-A person chosen by the applicant
					 or client in writing to be notified in case of emergency, termination of
					 services, home closure or other situations indicated by the applicant or
					 client.
Domiciliary care home
or
dom care
					 home
-A premises certified by an AAA for the purpose of providing a
					 supervised living arrangement in a homelike setting for a period exceeding 24
					 consecutive hours to clients placed there by the AAA.
Domiciliary care provider
					 service
-Services, activities and basic items furnished by the provider
					 to the client.
Domiciliary care service
or
domiciliary care
-Services and activities performed by the AAA
					 which are necessary to seek out, assess and determine the eligibility of
					 applicants and prospective providers, to certify domiciliary care homes, and to
					 arrange for, oversee and follow-up on the following:
(i) The placement of clients into domiciliary
				  care homes.
(ii) The receipt of the
				  domiciliary care supplement by clients.
Domiciliary care supplement
-The monthly
					 monetary supplement to the income of a client who has been placed into a
					 domiciliary care home. The supplement is provided by the Commonwealth under 55
					 Pa. Code Chapter 299 (relating to supplemental security income program and
					 State supplementary payment program).
Exit
-A door on the exit path which opens
					 directly to the outside of the building or structure.
Exit path
-A continuous, unobstructed,
					 unrestricted and safe way of travel from any point in the home to a safe area
					 of refuge outside the building or structure.
Full assistance
-A client who needs to be
					 led or carried from the building or needs help to get into a wheelchair and
					 needs to be wheeled out of the building or needs help getting into another
					 device and needs helps evacuating the building and is unable to follow verbal
					 or signed prompts.
Independently mobile
-An individual who is
					 physically and mentally capable of vacating the home without the assistance of
					 another person in the case of an emergency. The term includes a person capable
					 of ascending or descending stairs unassisted, if necessary, to vacate the home
					 in which the person is residing.
Joint certification
-Certification of a
					 domiciliary care home by an AAA in conjunction with another certifying or
					 licensing agency of the Commonwealth to provide residential care services to
					 domiciliary care clients and clients of other agencies in the same home or
					 facility.
Minimal physical assistance
-Assistance in
					 getting to one's feet, into a wheelchair, walker or prosthetic device.
Nonmobile
-A client who is physically or
					 mentally unable to vacate the building without the continued full assistance of
					 another person.
PSA (Planning and Service Area)
-A
					 geographic area within this Commonwealth, authorized by the Older Americans Act
					 of 1965 (42 U.S.C.A.
					 §§
											3001-3057g) and designated
					 by the Department for the purposes of planning, development, delivery and
					 administration of aging and social services by an AAA.
Prospective domiciliary care home
or
prospective home
-A residence in the process of being certified
					 by an AAA as a domiciliary care home.
Prospective provider
-A person who applies
					 to the AAA to be a provider and is in the process of being determined eligible
					 as a provider.
Provider
-A person 21 years of age and
					 older determined eligible by an AAA to have responsibility for the day-to-day
					 operation of a domiciliary care home.
Relative
-A person related to the client by
					 consanguinity, affinity or adoption.
SSI (Supplemental Security Income)
-Monthly
					 income maintenance provided to aged, blind or disabled individuals through
					 Title XVI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.A. §§
											1381-1382j).
Semimobile
-A client who is able to vacate
					 the home with no more than verbal or minimal physical assistance. To be
					 considered semimobile, a person shall be able to effectively operate a device
					 required for moving from one place to another, be able to understand and carry
					 out instructions for vacating the home and be able to ascend or descend stairs
					 if present on the exit path. The term does not include a person who by reason
					 of physical or mental disability or condition is unable to vacate the home in
					 case of emergency without the continual physical assistance of another.
Service management
-The process through
					 which AAAs meet their mandate to secure needed services for older people. This
					 process includes the following activities: comprehensive needs assessment to
					 include nutrition assessment; development of a written service plan;
					 arrangement, coordination and follow-up of service delivery; reassessment; and
					 ongoing case recording.
Social Security district office
-An office
					 in this Commonwealth which has been designated to administer various programs
					 under the Social Security Act, including SSI, in an assigned geographic
					 area.
Staff person
-An adult who is employed by a
					 provider or who volunteers to furnish services to the clients in a domiciliary
					 care home.
State supplement
-The monthly monetary
					 supplement to persons receiving SSI in this Commonwealth. The State supplement
					 is provided by the Commonwealth under 55 Pa. Code Chapter 299 (relating to
					 supplemental security income program and State supplementary payment
					 program).
Subcontractor
-A person, agency or
					 organization which has a written, legally-binding agreement or contract with
					 the AAA to perform services and activities necessary to seek out, assess and
					 determine the eligibility of applicants and prospective providers, to certify
					 domiciliary care homes, and to arrange for, oversee and follow-up on, the
					 placement of clients in domiciliary care homes and the receipt of the
					 domiciliary care supplement by clients. The agreement or contract shall meet
					 the contracting standards of the Department as promulgated in the applicable
					 program directive.
Unusual incident
-An occurrence which
					 threatens the health and safety of a client. The term includes fires,
					 structural damage to the home, crimes, serious injuries, missing persons,
					 highly contagious diseases, food poisoning, interruptions in utility services
					 which may affect the health and safety of a client, neglect, mistreatment,
					 physical or mental abuse, behavior by a client which constitutes a danger to
					 that client or others, the death of the client, a request by the client for
					 immediate removal or relocation from the domiciliary care home, or the
					 relocation of the domiciliary care home.
Verbal assistance
-Giving instructions to
					 assist the client in vacating the home.