The basic activities necessary for daily life, such as bathing or showering, dressing, eating, getting in or out of bed or chairs, using the toilet, and getting around inside the home.

A behavioural treatment for depression in which guidance is given to increase the number of rewarding activities in the person’s life.

A form of behavioural therapy to treat urinary incontinence that aims to increase the interval between voids. This training is composed of patient education, scheduled voiding and positive reinforcement.

A person who provides care and support to someone else. This may include the following:

• helping with self-care, household tasks, mobility, social participation and meaningful activities;
• offering information, advice and emotional support as well as engaging in advocacy, facilitation of decision-making and peer support, and helping with advance-care planning;
• offering respite services; and
• engaging in activities to foster intrinsic capacity.

The cumulative effect of the physical, emotional and economic pressures put on a caregiver.

A strategy for targeting resources at individuals or groups who are suspected to be at risk for a particular disease or adverse health outcomes. It involves actively, systematically searching for at-risk people, rather than waiting for them to present with symptoms or signs of active disease or health conditions.

This arises when functional ability has fallen to a point where an individual is no longer able without assistance to undertake the basic tasks necessary for daily living.

A disease, disorder, injury or trauma that is persistent or has long-lasting effects.

A multidimensional assessment of an older person that includes medical, physical, cognitive, social and spiritual components; may also include the use of standardized assessment instruments and/or an interdisciplinary team to support the process.

A type of psychological therapy that involves identifying and correcting distorted maladaptive beliefs, while using thought exercises and real experiences to facilitate symptom reduction and improved functioning.

A loss or abnormality in attention functions, memory functions or higher-level cognitive functions.

• Attention functions are mental functions that focus on an external stimulus or internal experience for a specific period of time.
• Memory functions are mental functions that register and store information and retrieve it as needed.
• Higher-level cognitive functions, often called executive functions, are mental functions that involve the frontal lobes of the brain. They include complex goal-directed behaviours such as decision-making, abstract thinking, making and carrying out plans, mental flexibility and deciding which behaviours are appropriate under specific circumstances.

A method to maximize memory and cognitive functioning despite neurological difficulties. Cognitive rehabilitation focuses on identifying and addressing individual needs and goals, which may require strategies for taking in new information, or compensatory methods such as using memory aids.

Participation in a range of activities designed to improve cognitive and social functioning.

Guided practice of specific standardized tasks designed to enhance particular cognitive functions.

Individuals who provide health education, referral and follow up, case management, and basic preventive health care and home-visiting services to specific communities. They provide support and assistance to individuals and families in navigating the health and social services system.

The presence of distress or some degree of impaired functioning in the absence of depressive episode/disorder.

Recommendations for a healthy diet to help protect against malnutrition and undernutrition as well as noncommunicable diseases.

Inadvertently landing on the ground, floor or other lower level.

The combination and interaction of intrinsic capacity with the environment a person inhabits.

Complex health states that tend to occur only later in life and that do not fall into discrete disease categories; often the consequence of multiple underlying factors, and dysfunction in multiple organ systems.

A form of toileting assistance given by a caregiver to adults with urinary incontinence. This method involves identification of an incontinent person’s natural voiding pattern and the development of an individualized toileting schedule, which pre-empts involuntary bladder emptying.

The process of developing and maintaining the intrinsic capacity and functional ability that enables well-being in older age.

Loss or abnormality in sensory functions relating to perception of the presence of sounds or discriminating the location, pitch, loudness or quality of sounds.

The combination of the individual’s physical and mental, including psychological, capacities.

Deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy and/or nutrients. The term malnutrition covers two broad groups of conditions. One is “undernutrition” – which includes stunting (low height for age), wasting (low weight for height), underweight (low weight for age) and micronutrient deficiencies or insufficiencies (a lack of important vitamins and minerals); the other is overweight, obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases (such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer).

Interventions to improve the mealtime routine, experience or environment by providing assistance (directly or indirectly): encouragement with eating, a more stimulating environment to eat in, increased access to food, more choice of food or more appealing food (visually, sensorially).

A disorder characterized by memory impairment, learning difficulties and reduced ability to concentrate on a task for more than brief periods. There is often a marked feeling of mental fatigue when mental tasks are attempted, and new learning is found to be subjectively difficult even when objectively successful. None of these symptoms is so severe that a diagnosis of either dementia or delirium can be made.

A loss or abnormality in any form of moving by changing body position or location or by transferring from one place to another, by carrying, moving or manipulating objects, by walking, running or climbing, or by using various forms of transportation.

The co-occurrence of two or more chronic medical conditions in one person.

Exercise interventions composed of multiple modalities such as strength training, aerobic training, balance training or flexibility exercises.

A comprehensive assessment to define all possible factors that may be causing a specific symptom or condition.

An intervention to address multiple contributing factors; an approach may include modification plus education, or action to minimize risk factors.

General physicians, family physicians, nurses and other clinical officers working in a health centre or as part of a clinical team, commonly within a primary health care setting.

A person whose age has passed the median life expectancy at birth.

An approach to care that consciously adopts the perspectives of individuals, families and communities, and sees them as participants in, as well as beneficiaries of, health care and long-term care systems that respond to their needs and preferences in humane and holistic ways. To ensure that person-centred care is delivered requires that people have the education and support they need to make decisions and to participate in their own care. Person-centred care is organized around the health needs and expectations of people rather than diseases.

Exercises that involve contraction and relaxation of the pelvic muscles, aiming to strengthen the muscles and enable increased urethral-closing pressure.

Members of a primary care team, a group of professionals with complementary contributions, mutual respect and shared responsibility in patient care. Primary care teams are patient-centred, so their composition and organizational model can change over time.

A type of exercise in which participants exercise their muscles against a force or some type of resistance that is progressively increased as strength improves.

A type of psychological therapy in which the person systematically identifies their problems, generates alternative solutions for each problem, selects the best solution, develops and conducts a plan, and evaluates whether this has solved the problem.

Interpersonal, individualized treatments to help with a psychiatric or psychological disorder, problem or adverse circumstance. Treatments may include cognitive behavioural therapy, problem-solving therapies, interpersonal therapy or integrative therapeutic techniques.

Any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure – including activities undertaken while working, playing, carrying out household chores, travelling or engaging in recreational pursuits.

Subcategory of physical activity that is planned, structured, repetitive and aims to improve or maintain one or more components of physical fitness.

A concept based on the principles of equity, participation, intersectoral action, appropriate technology and a central role played by the health system. Patients usually have direct access without the need for referral.

A non-pharmacological, behavioural-therapy approach to urinary incontinence using verbal prompts and positive reinforcement, for people with or without dementia.

Time off from caregiving responsibilities so that caregivers can restore and maintain their own physical and mental health.

A global problem that is usually caused by a lack of food, or a limited range of foods with inadequate amounts of specific nutrients or other food components, for example protein, dietary fibre and micronutrients.

Involuntary leakage of urine. The majority of causes can be divided into three types:

• urge incontinence: involuntary leakage of urine associated with, or immediately following, a sudden compelling need to void;
• stress incontinence: involuntary leakage when performing physical activity, coughing or sneezing; and
• mixed urinary incontinence: a combination of urge incontinence and stress incontinence.

A loss or abnormality in sensory functions relating to the perception of the presence of light, or to sensing the form, size, shape or colour of the visual stimuli.