§1397j Definitions

Summary

Defines key words used to protect older adults and guide services for them. "Abuse" means knowingly causing physical or mental harm or knowingly withholding things needed to stay safe or healthy. "Adult protective services" are the services the Secretary sets, including taking and checking reports, doing casework, and arranging medical, social, legal, housing, or emergency help. "Caregiver" is anyone responsible for an elder’s care, paid or unpaid, including family or workers. "Direct care" is care given by an employee or contractor. "Elder" means a person 60 years old or older. "Elder justice" means efforts to prevent, find, treat, intervene, and prosecute elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation and to protect elders with less capacity while respecting their rights. "Eligible entity" is a government body, tribe, or other public or private group with experience in elder justice. "Exploitation" means illegal or unfair use of an elder’s money, property, or benefits for someone else’s gain. "Fiduciary" is someone legally charged to act for another’s benefit, like a trustee, guardian, conservator, executor, or agent under a power of attorney. "Grant" includes contracts and cooperative agreements for funding. "Guardianship" covers the court process that finds an adult lacks decision ability, names a guardian or similar surrogate, and the guardian’s duties and court oversight. "Indian tribe" has the meaning in 25 U.S.C. 5304 and includes any Pueblo or Rancheria. "Law enforcement" covers police, prosecutors, medical examiners, investigators, coroners, and related responders. "Long-term care" means the supportive health services the Secretary defines for people who cannot care for themselves because of illness, disability, or vulnerability; losing capacity for self-care means not being able to do one or more daily activities like eating, dressing, bathing, or managing money. "Long-term care facility" is a residential provider that arranges or gives long-term care. "Neglect" means a caregiver or fiduciary failing to provide needed goods or services, or self-neglect. "Nursing facility" has the meaning in 42 U.S.C. 1396r(a) and includes a skilled nursing facility as defined in 42 U.S.C. 1395i–3(a). "Self-neglect" means an adult cannot meet essential self-care like food, clothing, shelter, medical care, safety, or finances because of physical or mental problems. "Serious bodily injury" means an injury causing extreme pain, a substantial risk of death, long-lasting loss or impairment of a body part or mental faculty, or needing surgery, hospitalization, or rehabilitation; it also covers conduct described in 18 U.S.C. 2241 or 2242 or a similar state offense. When a service is called "social," it includes adult protective services. "State legal assistance developer" and "State Long-Term Care Ombudsman" mean the officials described in 42 U.S.C. 3058j and 42 U.S.C. 3058g(a)(2), respectively.