Key Terms

Your local Area Agency on Aging (AAA) is your starting point for aging services in your community. AAAs provide vital services, programs and information to millions of older Pennsylvanians and their caregivers, including legal services, home-delivered meals, health promotion and disease prevention, transportation, public benefits counseling, senior centers and in-home services. Pennsylvania Area Agency on Aging Locator

Activities of daily living such as personal care, hygiene assistance, mobility, meal preparation, medication management, and more. Care that is focused on ADLs is often referred to as “custodial care.”

Using Care Compare, you can find and compare Medicare-certified facilities based on a location and compare their staffing and the quality of care they give based on a 5-star rating scale. You can search by state, county, city, zip code, and/or facility name.

A CCRC is a place where you have access to multiple levels of care on a single campus.

Care primarily for meeting personal needs such as assistance in bathing, dressing, eating or taking medicine, which can be provided by someone without medical training.

Educational materials and community resources for a variety of topics can be accessed through PA Link to Community Care. The Link is designed to help you find information that will connect you to support and services for older adults in your community. There is no charge for information and assistance provided by any Link or Link partner agency.

A senior move manager is a professional who specializes in assisting older adults and their families with the emotional, logistical, and physical aspects of relocation and/or aging in place. They can help organize, sort, and arrange for the sale, consignment or donation of items that will not fit your changing lifestyle.

Skilled nursing care refers to care or treatment that can only be performed by licensed nurses.