Glossary
Home Health Aide Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential home health aide terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key home health aide vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in home health aide training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- ADLs
- Activities of daily living: bathing, dressing, eating, toileting and moving around.
- Care plan
- The written plan that lists the services and tasks each client should receive.
- EVV
- Electronic visit verification: a system that records when and where care visits happen.
- Fall risk
- A client’s likelihood of falling, which shapes how care is given.
- Gait belt
- A strong belt placed around a client’s waist to help with safe transfers and walking.
- Hospice
- Comfort-focused care for people near the end of life.
- IADLs
- Instrumental activities of daily living, such as cooking, shopping and managing medications.
- Incontinence care
- Helping clients stay clean and dry when they cannot control bladder or bowel.
- Mandated reporting
- The duty to report suspected abuse, neglect or exploitation.
- Pressure injury
- Skin damage caused by staying in one position too long; also called a bedsore.
- Range of motion (ROM)
- Exercises that move joints through their full movement to prevent stiffness.
- Respite care
- Short-term care that gives family caregivers a break.
- Standard precautions
- Infection-control practices, such as hand hygiene and gloves, used with every client.
- Transfer
- Moving a client from one surface to another, such as bed to wheelchair.
- Vital signs
- Temperature, pulse, respirations and blood pressure.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Home Health Aide practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Home Health Aide training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.