Definitions: H
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Hallucination - a sensory experience of something that does not exist outside the mind. A person can experience a hallucination in any of the five senses.
Hashimoto's Thyroiditis - an autoimmune disease of the thyroid gland, resulting in a goiter, infiltration of the thyroid gland with lymphocytes, and hypothyroidism.
Health - is the overall condition of an organism at a given time.
Health Care - (also healthcare) the prevention, treatment, and management of illness and the preservation of mental and physical well-being through the services offered by the medical and other health professions.
Health Maintenance Organization - (HMO) is an organized system for providing comprehensive health care in a specific area to a voluntarily enrolled group of members. An organization that, for a prepaid fee, provides a comprehensive range of health maintenance and treatment services.
Heart - the cardiac muscle that maintains the circulation of the blood.
Hematuria - blood in the urine.
Hemorrhage - the escape of blood from the vessels; bleeding.
Hereditary - transferred via genes from parent to child.
Hire - to engage the services of (a person or persons) for wages or other payment.
Holistic - is a philosophy of medical care that views physical and mental aspects of life as equally important approaches to treatment. While frequently associated with alternative medicine, it is also increasingly used in mainstream medical practice as part of a broad view of patient care.
Home and Community Based Services - (HCBS) are variety of supportive services delivered in community settings or in a person's home. These services are designed to help older persons and adults with disabilities remain living at home.
Home Care - (also known as in-home care or homecare) is professional care that an individual receives in the home. Homecare aides provide companionship and assistance with the activities of daily living (ADLs), such as eating, bathing and dressing. They may also help with light household chores or transportation needs. You can hire homecare aides either on your own or through an agency. There are three types of homecare: agency, referral and private hire. Many agencies and caregivers specialize in specific types of care, such as rehabilitation or dementia. Home care is a broad term that describes a wide variety of health and health-related services provided in the home or community. Home care is available to people of all ages with either acute or chronic conditions, as well as the disabled and terminally ill. The home care staff will work with the client and their families to teach them about their condition as well as how to care for themselves or their loved-one, so that they can be as independent as possible. Both home health care and homecare provide companionship and assistance with ADLs. Some people engage both services simultaneously, as they complement each other well. The cost of homecare is significantly less, as these caregivers do not provide skilled nursing care.
Home Care Aide - (homecare aid or caregiver, see caregiver) not to be confused with home health aide.
Home Care Agency - typically provide personal services, helping with daily activities such as bathing, dressing, and transportation. However, some home care agencies also provide healthcare services as well and they come in all shapes and sizes. The availability and kind of home care services can vary from one provider to the next. So if you haven't found what you need, there are probably many other service providers in your area.
Home Health Agency - (HHA) is an organization that provides homecare services, including skilled nursing care and home care aide services as well as occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, and medical social services.
Home Health Aide - trained aides from a home health agency provide assistance with personal care including bathing, dressing, grooming and homemaking services. Not to be confused with home care aide.
Home Health Care - encompasses skilled services such as nursing, and physical and occupational therapies, to be administered in your home. These services must be prescribed by a doctor. Home health care agencies are licensed by the state, but must adhere to federal regulations as well. Doctors and hospitals usually have established relationships with home health care providers; most prescriptions for home health are accompanied by a recommendation for where to find it. Home health care is sometimes confused with homecare (also known as in-home care). Homecare does not require a doctor's prescription and does not include skilled nursing services. Home health care nurses can administer medication, whereas in many states, homecare aides can only provide reminders to take medicine. Both home health care and homecare provide companionship and assistance with the activities of daily living (ADLs). Some people engage both services simultaneously, as they complement each other well, depending on the services you require - home health focuses on skilled care (not housework), while homecare agencies can aid with or take over most light household chores.
Home Health Care Provider - home care services are usually provided by home health agencies but may also be obtained from registries and independent providers. Home care organizations include home health agencies; hospices; homemaker and home care aide agencies; staffing and private-duty agencies; and companies specializing in medical equipment and supplies, pharmaceuticals, and drug infusion therapy. Home care services generally are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Depending on the patient's needs, these services may be provided by an individual or a team on a part-time, intermittent, hourly, or shift basis.
Home Infusion Therapy - provides IV therapy and nutrition, such as chemotherapy, pain management and antibiotic therapy in the patient's home. Nurses and pharmacists work with the patient and family to teach them to administer the covered medication. The patient should check with their specific insurance, or other payer, for coverage.
Hormone - a chemical substance produced in the body which has a specific effect on the activity of certain cells or a certain organ or organs.
Hospice - is a special way of caring for individuals who are in the final stages of their lives due to a terminal illness. The hospice approach focuses on managing symptoms as opposed to curing an illness. Hospice services help patients, who are no longer seeking aggressive treatment or a medical cure, manage their terminal illness at home or in a home like environment. Hospice addresses the physical, psychological, and spiritual needs of the patient and family.
Hospice Care - care designed to give support to people in the final phase of a terminal illness and focuses on comfort, rather than a cure. The goal is to enable patients to be comfortable and free of pain, so that they live each day as fully as possible. Aggressive methods of pain control may be used. Hospice programs generally are home-based, but they sometimes provide services away from home - in freestanding facilities, in nursing homes, or within hospitals. The philosophy of hospice is to provide support for the patient's emotional, social, and spiritual needs as well as medical symptoms as part of treating the whole person. Hospice programs generally use a team approach, including the services of a nurse, doctor, social worker and clergy in providing care. Additional services provided include drugs to control pain and manage other symptoms; physical, occupational, and speech therapy; medical supplies and equipment; medical social services; dietary and other counseling; continuous home care at times of crisis; and bereavement services.
Hospice Care Providers - people are sometimes reluctant to question doctors or other medical professionals about their care. Yet what is more important than the quality of care you will receive during this final phase of life? When you and your family are choosing your hospice team, be sure to ask about: the hospice's patient-to-caregiver ratios for each hospice discipline, average frequency of home hospice visits, response time and procedures followed for after-hours questions and concerns, continuity of care (i.e., having the same caregivers over time). Also, ask whether the hospice will develop a written treatment plan that is given to all service providers for smooth coordination of care. You and your family members should receive copies of the care plan as well, listing specific duties, work days and hours, and the contact information for the supervisor.
Hourly Care - Usually very short-term care consisting of only a few hours targeted towards housekeeping, meals, companionship and safety observation.
Housekeeping - the cleaning and organizing of the interior of a residence. The expectations of a caregiver as opposed to a housekeeper lie in their job duties. A housekeeper's job exclusively entails the upkeep of the house interior. The caregiver's primary focus is the care receiver. Secondarily, they will do minor cleaning to maintain a healthy environment for the care receiver.
Human Development - the different stages of one's life and the different physical and psychological changes that occur as that life progresses.
Human Services - is something of a catch-all category covering a broad range of services and facilities provided by public, quasi-public, and private agencies. Comprehensive plan considerations in this category are diverse and include the provision and placement of daycare and adult care facilities, group homes, mental health facilities, homeless and other types of shelters, professional offices, and human service agency facilities.
Hydraulic Lift - (also hoist) home: a mechanical device that helps to lift, pivot and transfer care receivers. Vehicle: a ramp-type device that will lift a wheelchair bound person into a vehicle - usually a bus.
Hydrogen - the simplest, most common element known in the universe.
Hygiene - a condition or practice, such as cleanliness, that promotes the preservation of health.
Hyperactive - behavior characterized by constant overactivity.
Hyperglycemia - the presence of an abnormally high concentration of glucose in the blood.
Hypersensitivity - an adverse reaction to contact with specific substances in quantities that usually produce no reaction in normal individuals. An allergic tendency. In general, a tendency to react unusually to stimuli.
Hyperthyroidism - is the overproduction of thyroid hormones by an overactive thyroid.
Hyperventilation - abnormally fast or deep respiration resulting in the loss of carbon dioxide from the blood, thereby causing a decrease in blood pressure and sometimes fainting.
Hypnosis - an altered state of consciousness, usually resembling sleep or trance, which may use relaxation techniques, suggestion, and imagery.
Hypoglycemia - a condition of below normal blood sugar. Hypoglycemia can produce a variety of symptoms and effects but the principal problems arise from an inadequate supply of glucose as fuel to the brain, resulting in impairment of function. Effects can range from vaguely "feeling bad" to coma and (rarely) permanent brain damage or death. If the blood sugar level falls too low the liver converts a storage of glycogen into glucose and releases it into the bloodstream. Hypoglycemia is usually treated by the ingestion or administration of glucose or sugar, or foods digestible to glucose.
These definitions are from sources deemed reliable but you should independently verify their accuracy.
If you click a link, you can go back by clicking your browser's back button or by pressing Alt, left arrow.
See a correction? Want us to add a definition? Tell us here.
Sources:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
http://www.webmd.com/
