Lifetime home Health Dictionary

Almost two centuries old, it is a system of medicine in which the treatment of disease (symptom pictures) depends on the administration of minute doses (attenuations) of substances that would, in larger doses, produce the same symptoms as the disease being treated. Homeopaths don’t like that “disease” word, preferring to match symptoms, not diagnostic labels. Although by no means harmless, homeopathic doses are devoid of drug toxicity. Many practitioners these days prefer high, almost mythic potencies, sometimes resorting to a virtual “laying on of hands” to attain the alleged remedy. When M.D.s used homeopathy frequently (turn of the century), there were violent battles between low potency advocates and the high potency charismatics. Some preferred low potencies or even mother tinctures (herbs!), which I find quite reasonable (naturally), such as Boericke. Others sought ever higher and higher potencies, tantamount to dropping an Arnica petal in Lake Superior in September and extracting a drop of water at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River the following April. Kent and Clarke were such homeopaths. Philosophically, to me, we are all surrounded in a subtle tide of unimaginably complex pollutants and organochemical recombinants...all low and middle potency homeopathic attenuations...our milieu itself is Mother Nosode...how can we be expected to respond to elegant but unimaginably subtle influences when our very bones radiate a low-potency gray noise. If you have no idea what I am talking about, just consider it a family argument.

... homeopathy

The normal physiological process which ensures that the body’s internal systems, such as its metabolism, blood pressure and body temperature, maintain an equilibrium whatever the conditions of the outside environment. For example, the body temperature remains at around 37 °C (98.4 °F) in a cold or a hot climate.... homeostasis

A person or a service providing practical help in the home, such as household chores, to support an older person with disabilities to remain living in his/her own home.... home help

See “high dependency care facility”.... nursing home

A residence which offers housing and personal care services to a number of residents. Services (such as meals, supervision and transportation) are usually provided by the owner or manager. Usually 24-hour professional health care is not provided on site. See also “assisted living facility”.... adult care home / residential facility

See “adult care home”.... board and care home

A residential facility that provides accommodation and offers a range of care and support services. Care homes may provide a limited number of services to support low dependency or may provide a wide range of services to cater for the continuum from low to high dependency care. See “assisted living facility”; “high dependency care facility”.... care home

A house in which people have their own rooms but there are communal facilities. Staff may live in to offer support.... group home

Domicile of an individual.... home

See “adaptation”.... home adaptation

See “community-based care”.... home and community-based services; home and community care programme

See “residential care”; “assisted living facility”; “high dependency care facility”.... home for the aged

A public or private organization that provides home health services supervised by a licensed health professional in a person’s home, either directly or through arrangements with other organizations.... home health agency (hha) / home health care agency

A person who, under the supervision of a home health or social service agency, assists an older, ill or disabled person with household chores, bathing, personal care and other daily living needs. See also “community-based service”.... home health aide

See “domiciliary care”.... home health care / home care

An organization offering advice and practical assistance to older people who need to repair, improve or adapt their homes.... home improvement agency

Equipment, such as hospital beds, wheelchairs and prosthetics, provided by an agency and used at home.... home medical equipment

Professional visits in the home.... home visits

Schemes providing nursing care, personal care or practical help for older people who have returned home after a stay in hospital.... home-from-hospital / hospital after-care schemes

Generally unable to leave the house, or only for a short time.... homebound / housebound

A home help service for meal preparation, shopping, light housekeeping, money management, personal hygiene and grooming, and laundry.... homemaker service

(American) A tomboyish woman Homar, Homir, Homyr, Homur, Homor... homer

A scheme whereby a householder offers a bedroom and a share of the home’s facilities and pays a small contribution to someone in exchange for services.... homeshare

Home-based specialist medical care used to shorten hospital stays or prevent hospital admission.... hospital-at-home scheme

A service provided in the home by a home health agency or a residential services agency. It may be provided by personal care attendants or home health aides hired privately and informally, or through staff agencies or registries.... in home health service

Care provided in geriatric centres and acute hospitals to older persons who are in need of limited medical care and who are awaiting nursing home placement.... interim nursing home care

(CRHT) (in psychiatry) a multidisciplinary team in psychiatric services specialized in the treatment of severely mentally ill patients in their home environment. An additional remit of CRHTs is to try and avoid acute hospital admissions.... crisis resolution and home treatment team

see community midwife.... home delivery

(homoeo-) combining form denoting similar; like.... homeo

see domiciliary consultation.... home visit