Glossary

Revision Notice 22-2; Effective Dec. 1, 2022

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Activities of Daily Living (ADL) Limitations for Older People — Indicates the person’s total score on the Katz Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living (ADL) as shown on the Consumer Needs Evaluation. ADLs include bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring, continence and feeding. A limitation is defined as being unable to perform the activity without substantial assistance, including verbal reminding, physical cuing or supervision. For federal reporting, a person can have up to six areas for which limitations are present.

Administration on Aging (AoA) — The agency that administers Older Americans Act programs, except for Title V which is administered by the U.S. Department of Labor. It is within the Administration for Community Living of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The principal official of AoA is the assistant secretary for aging.  

Adult with Disabilities Receiving Care — A person with a disability, as defined in Section 3 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C Section 12102), who is older than 18 but not older than 59; and receives informal care from an eligible older relative caregiver. 

American Indian or Alaska Native — People maintaining tribal affiliation or community attachment with any of the original peoples of North America.

Area Agency on Aging (AAA) — The entity designated by HHSC under authority of the Older Americans Act, to develop and administer a plan for comprehensive and coordinated systems of services for older people.

Area Plan — A plan developed by the AAA for comprehensive and coordinated systems of services for older people that complies with the Older Americans Act (OAA) and 45 CFR Part 1321. It follows the format provided by HHSC and must be approved by HHSC before the AAA receives an award under the OAA.

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Care Coordination (Case Management) — A service to assess the needs of an older person. Effectively plan, arrange, coordinate and follow-up on services which most appropriately meet the identified needs as mutually defined by the older person, the access and assistance staff, and where appropriate, a family member(s) or other caregiver(s).

Caregiver — See Family Caregiver and Older Relative Caregiver.

Caregiver Support Coordination (Caregiver Case Management) — An ongoing service provided to a caregiver to assess the needs of a caregiver. It is to effectively plan, arrange, coordinate and follow-up on services which most appropriately meet the identified needs of the caregiver, as mutually defined by the caregiver, the care recipient, and the access and assistance staff.

Children Receiving Care — A person who is 18 or younger, who lives with and receives informal care from an eligible older relative caregiver.

Contract — A legal instrument where a non-federal entity purchases property or services needed to carry out the project or program under a federal award. The term does not include a legal instrument, even if the non-federal entity considers it a contract when the substance of the transaction meets the definition of a federal award or subaward.

Contractor — An entity that receives a contract.

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Delegated Purchase (for Contracts Valued up to $5,000.00) — A non-competitive purchase of goods or services, also known as a “spot” purchase. A contract or purchase agreement is not required, but the AAA must comply with its organization’s fiscal policy and procedures for purchases.

     Note: The requirements for “Delegated Purchases” for contracts valued higher than $5,000.00 are different. Consult the State of Texas Procurement and Contract Management Guide, published by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, for the requirements governing all delegated purchases.

Direct Service — Any activity performed to provide services directly to an individual older person by the staff of an area agency or a state agency in a single planning and service area.

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Estimated Audience — Estimated number of eligible people potentially reached through activities directed to audiences using mass media, such as publications, public service announcements, media campaigns and caregiver symposiums.

Estimated Persons Count — Estimated number of eligible people in an activity provided at a group event or other similar activity. Documentation supporting audience participation may include an activity log, sign-in sheet or event summary designed by the AAA. Documentation must include an agenda or the title of the event, date of the event and a brief description.

Ethnicity — Self-identification of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American or other Spanish culture or origin.

Evidence-Based Program — A program recognized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to meet the following criteria:

  • demonstrated through evaluation to be effective for improving health and well-being or reducing disease, disability, or injury among older adults;
  • proven effective with the older adult population, using experimental or quasi-experimental design*;
  • research results published in a peer-reviewed journal;
  • fully translated** in one or more community sites; and
  • includes developed dissemination products that are available to the public.

      *Experimental designs use random assignment and a control group. Quasi-experimental designs do not use random assignment.
     

      **For purposes of the Title III-D definitions, being “fully translated in one or more community sites” means that the evidence-based program in question has been carried out at the community level (with fidelity to the published research) at least once before. Sites should only consider programs shown to be effective within a real-world community setting.

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Family Caregiver — An adult family member, or another person, who is an informal provider of in-home and community care to an older person or to someone with Alzheimer’s disease or a related disorder with neurological and organic brain dysfunction regardless of age. Also see Older Relative Caregiver.

Federal Award — Federal award has the meaning, depending on the context, in either paragraph (1) or (2) of this definition:

     (1)(i) The federal financial assistance that a non-federal entity receives directly from a federal awarding agency or indirectly from a pass-through entity, as described in 45 CFR Section 75.101; or

     (ii) The cost-reimbursement contract under the Federal Acquisition Regulations that a non-federal entity receives directly from a federal awarding agency or indirectly from a pass-through entity, as described in 45 CFR Section 75.101.

     (2) The instrument setting forth the terms and conditions. The instrument is the grant agreement, cooperative agreement, other agreement for assistance covered in paragraph (2) of the definition of federal financial assistance found at 45 CFR Section 75.2, or the cost-reimbursement contract awarded under the Federal Acquisition Regulations.

     (3) Federal award does not include other contracts that a federal agency uses to buy goods or services from a contractor or a contract to operate federal government owned, contractor operated facilities.
 

Federal Poverty Level (FPL) — Amount established by the federal government as the poverty level.

Federal Regulations — Non-statutory policies, procedures or requirements adopted by federal government agencies to fulfill and implement a statutory purpose. Federal regulations are published in the Federal Register and codified in the Code of Federal Regulations. Federal regulations have the force and effect of law and are binding on agencies or persons to which they apply.

Fiscal Year — A specific 12-month period during which funds are expended. Specific fiscal years are listed below:

  • Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) – Oct. 1 through Sept. 30
  • State Fiscal Year (SFY) – Sept. 1 through Aug. 31

Flexible Meal Model — Home delivered meals model of service delivery that give people and meal providers an alternative option to the hot meal delivered daily model.

Focal Point — A facility established under the Older Americans Act to encourage the maximum collocation and coordination of services for older people in a community.

Frail — Having a physical or mental disability, including having Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder with neurological or organic brain dysfunction, that restricts the ability of a person to perform normal daily tasks or threatens the capacity of a person to live independently.

Full-time Staff (paid) — People who work 35 hours or more per week in a compensated or paid position as of Sept. 30 of the federal fiscal year.

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Gender — One’s inner sense of one’s own gender.

Greatest Economic Need — The need resulting from an income level at or below the poverty line.

Greatest Social Need — The need resulting from noneconomic factors that restrict the ability of a person to perform normal daily tasks or threaten the capacity of a person to live independently. Non-economic factors include:

  • physical or mental disabilities;
  • language barriers; and
  • cultural, social or geographical isolation, including isolation caused by racial or ethnic status.

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Homebound — Not able to leave the home without assistance from another person.

Household — A household includes all the people who occupy a housing unit, such as a house or apartment, as their usual place of residence. A household includes the related family members and all the unrelated people, if any, such as lodgers, foster children, wards or employees who share the housing unit. A person living alone in a housing unit or a group of unrelated people sharing a housing unit, such as partners or roomers, is also counted as a household.

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In-Home Service — A supportive service that supports the ability of an eligible person to remain in the home including:

  • chore maintenance;
  • day activity and health services;
  • homemaker;
  • personal care;
  • residential repair;
  • respite (in-home) care for families;
  • social reassurance; and
  • visiting

Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) Limitations for Older People — Indicates the person’s total score on the Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) Scale. Activities include ability to use the phone, shopping, food preparation, housekeeping, laundry, mode of transportation, medication management and ability to manage finances. A limitation is defined as being unable to perform the activity without substantial assistance, including verbal reminding, physical cuing or supervision. For federal reporting a person can have up to eight areas for which a limitation is present.

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Local Ombudsman Entity — An entity that is one of the following:

  • an identifiable unit of a host agency that:
    • consists of representatives of the Office of the Ombudsman who are employees, independent contractors, or volunteers of the host agency; and
    • implements the Ombudsman Program in an ombudsman service area; or
  • an identifiable unit of a governmental entity or nonprofit organization that:
    • consists of representatives of the Office of the Ombudsman who are employees, independent contractors, or volunteers of the governmental entity or nonprofit organization; and
    • contracts with a host agency to implement the Ombudsman Program in an ombudsman service area.

See the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program Ombudsman Policies and Procedures Manual for more information.

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Means Test — The use of an older person’s income or resources to deny or limit that person’s receipt of Older Americans Act services.

Minority Status — Racial and ethnic minority populations are defined as Asian American, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native.

Monitoring — Collection and analysis of an entity’s performance data related to current and past activities to determine whether the entity complied with its agreement, contract and state and federal requirements.

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Non-federal Entity — A state, local government, Indian tribe, institution of higher education or nonprofit organization that carries out a federal award as a recipient or subrecipient.

Nutrition Consultant — A dietitian or other person with equivalent education and training in nutrition science who provides services to a AAA or subrecipient provider to ensure required Older Americans Act requirements are met.

Nutrition Risk Score — The person’s total score on the Determine Your Nutritional Health Handout, published by the Nutrition Screening Initiative.

Nutrition Services — Congregate meals, home delivered meals and a range of services including nutrition screening, assessment, education and counseling.

Nutrition Services Incentive Program (NSIP) — A program that provides cash or commodities to supplement congregate and home delivered meals provided under the authority of the Older Americans Act. Texas elected to receive cash only.

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Older Person — A person who is 60 years or older.

Older Relative Caregiver — A person who –

  • is 55 or older; and
  • lives with, is the informal provider of in-home and community care to, and is the primary caregiver for, a child or a person with a disability and: 
    • in the case of a caregiver for a child— 
      • is the grandparent, step-grandparent or other relative (other than the parent) by blood, marriage or adoption, of the child; 
      • is the primary caregiver of the child because the biological or adoptive parents are unable or unwilling to serve as the primary caregivers of the child; and
      • has a legal relationship to the child, such as legal custody, adoption or guardianship, or is raising the child informally; and
    • in the case of a caregiver for a person with a disability, is the parent, grandparent or other relative by blood, marriage or adoption, of the person with a disability.

Also see Family Caregiver.

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Part-time Staff (paid) —People who work less than 35 hours per week in a compensated (paid) position as of Sept. 30 of the federal fiscal year.

Pass-through Entity — A non-federal entity that provides a subaward to a subrecipient to carry out part of a federal program.

Planning and Service Area (PSA) — A geographical area, consisting of one or more counties, for which HHSC designates one AAA to develop and implement an area plan.

Poverty Status — A person’s household income relating to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) poverty guidelines published each year in the Federal Register. People considered to be at or below the poverty level are those whose household income is at or below the official poverty guidelines provided by HHS. People considered to be above the poverty level are those whose household income is above the official poverty guidelines provided by HHS.

Program Income — Gross income earned by the non-federal entity that is directly generated by a supported activity or earned because of the federal award during the period of performance. Program income includes income from fees for services performed, the use or rental of real or personal property acquired under federal awards, the sale of commodities or items fabricated under a federal award, license fees and royalties on patents and copyrights, and principal and interest on loans made with federal award funds. Interest earned on advances of federal funds is not program income. Except as otherwise provided in federal statutes, regulations or the terms and conditions of the federal award, program income does not include rebates, credits, discounts and interest earned on any of them.

Program Participant — A person receiving services from a AAA or a service provider.

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Race — Self-identification with a national origin or sociocultural group.

  • American Indian or Alaska Native – Having origins in any of the original people of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.
  • Asian – Having origins in any of the original people of the Far East, Southeast Asia or the Indian subcontinent. This includes Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand and Vietnam.
  • Black or African American – Having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.
  • Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander – Having origins in any of the original people of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa or other Pacific Islands.
  • White – Having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East or North Africa.
     

Recipient — An entity, usually but not limited to non-federal entities, that receives a federal award directly from a federal awarding agency to carry out an activity under a federal program. The term recipient does not include subrecipients.

Reimbursement Methodology by Area Agency on Aging — Description of the Area Agency on Aging’s method of payment to a service provider.

Relationship (Caregiver) — The familial relationship of the caregiver to the care recipient.

  • Husband – Male partner in a marriage.
  • Wife – Female partner in a marriage.
  • Domestic Partner, including Civil Union – Adults in a committed relationship with another adult, including both same sex and opposite sex relationships.
  • Son or Son-in-Law – Biological male child, adoptive child or step-child and spouse of biological, adoptive or step-daughter.
  • Daughter or Daughter-in-Law – Biological female child, adoptive child or step-child and spouse of biological, adoptive or step-son.
  • Sister – Female child or offspring having one or both parents in common. A female sibling by blood, adoption or marriage. 
  • Brother – Male child or offspring having one or both parents in common. A male sibling by blood, adoption or marriage.
  • Grandparent – Parent of one’s mother or father by blood, adoption or marriage.
  • Parent – A person who brings up and cares for the care recipient and is related to the care recipient by blood, adoption or marriage.
  • Other Relative – Another family member not captured by the defined relationships, including in-laws.
  • Non-Relative – A person with no kinship relationship to the care recipient.
     

Rural — Any area that is not defined as urban. Urban areas are comprised of (1) urbanized areas, which consist of a central place and its adjacent densely settled territories with a combined minimum population of 50,000 and (2) urban clusters with a population of at least 2,500 but fewer than 50,000.  

     Note: Geographic Distribution is defined using Categorization C of the Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) codes. For additional information and background on the ZIP code based RUCA refer to the WWAMI Rural Health Research Center’s RUCA website and visit the RUCA Codes page for development of the county-based RUCA. ZIP code files are available on the Resource page of the Older Americans Act Performance System (OAAPS).

Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) Codes — RUCA codes classify United States census tracts using measures of population density, urbanization, and daily commuting. 

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Senior Center — A multi-purpose community facility that provides a broad range of services for older people. Services include health, mental and behavioral health. Also, social, nutritional, recreational and educational services. 

Service Provider — An entity that receives a sub-award or contract from a AAA to provide a direct service.

Service Unit — A discrete amount of an allowable service under the Older Americans Act. Units are particular to the service. See service definitions for the corresponding unit.

Severe Disability — A disability due to a mental or physical impairment that:

  • is likely to continue indefinitely; and
  • results in substantial functional limitation in three or more of the following major life activities:
    • self-care;
    • receptive and expressive language;
    • learning;
    • mobility;
    • self-direction;
    • capacity for independent living; and
    • economic self-sufficiency.

Significant Change —

  • a difference in a person’s health status after an accident, illness or hospitalization;
  • an actual or anticipated change in person’s living situation;
  • a change in the caregiver relationship;
  • loss, damage or deterioration of the home living environment;
  • loss of a spouse, family member, caregiver or close friend; or
  • loss of income.

State — The state of Texas.

State Program Report (SPR) — An annual federal report submitted to the Administration for Community Living (ACL).

State Unit on Aging — The single state agency designated by the Administration on Aging to develop and administer the State Plan on Aging. In Texas, this is the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.

Subaward — An award provided by a pass-through entity to a subrecipient for the subrecipient to carry out part of a federal award received by the pass-through entity. It does not include payments to a contractor or payments to an individual who is a beneficiary of a federal program. A subaward may be provided through any form of legal agreement, including an agreement that the pass-through entity considers a contract.

Subcontractor — A purveyor of goods or services engaged by a primary contractor to provide goods, services or both through a procurement relationship generally available to any purchaser for a stated price.

Subrecipient — A non-federal entity that receives a subaward from a pass-through entity to carry out a part of a federal program. Subrecipients typically determine program eligibility, are responsible for program decision-making and adhere to program compliance requirements. Performance is measured against state and federal goals. A subrecipient does not include an individual who is a beneficiary of a federal program.

Supplemental Services (Caregiver) — Goods and services provided on a limited basis to complement the care provided by caregivers.  

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Unduplicated Persons Count — An actual count of eligible people who are receiving or have received a service. When initially served, each new person is counted one time, by service, in each fiscal year. Form 2276, Intake, and other appropriate documents are required.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — The federal agency which includes the Administration for Community Living and the Administration on Aging, responsible for administering Older Americans Act programs.

Urban — Urban areas are comprised of (1) urbanized areas, which consist of a central place and its adjacent densely settled territories with a combined minimum population of 50,000 and (2) urban clusters which have at least 2,500 people but fewer than 50,000. 

       Note: Geographic Distribution is defined using Categorization C of the Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) codes. For more information and background on the ZIP code based RUCA refer to the WWAMI Rural Health Research Center’s RUCA website. Visit the RUCA Codes page for development of the county-based RUCA. ZIP code files are available on the Resource page of the Older Americans Act Performance System (OAAPS).

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Voluntary Contribution — A donation by a person participating in a Title III program made to a AAA or a subrecipient.

Volunteer — An uncompensated person who provides services or support for older people. Only staff working under the AAA, not the AAA providers, are included in the staffing for the State Program Report.

Volunteer Hours — Hour of uncompensated work performed during the federal fiscal year by an uncompensated person who provides services or support for older people. Only hours worked under the AAA, not the AAA providers, are included in the State Program Report.