Glossary of care terms

A provincial program that helps cover medical equipment and supplies — mobility aids, bathroom safety equipment, and more — for Albertans with a long-term disability, chronic illness, or terminal condition. We coordinate AADL equipment as part of home-safety planning.

The fundamental self-care tasks: bathing, dressing, grooming, eating, toileting, and transferring or moving about. “Needs help with ADLs” is the phrase assessments, care plans, and funding decisions are built around.

The benefits organization that administers CDHCI: it keeps the registered provider list, issues approval letters, and processes provider claims up to your authorized maximum. You do not need a personal Alberta Blue Cross plan to use CDHCI.

A provincial office that helps Albertans raise and resolve concerns about health services when direct routes haven’t worked — an independent door beyond the provider and the licensing office.

The ceiling of funded care hours your assessment sets for each month. The maximum resets on the first of the month; unused hours never carry over, and hours can’t be shared or split between people in the same household. Only your case manager can set or change this number — no provider can promise or estimate it.

The provincial agency responsible for continuing care, including home care — a role formerly held by Alberta Health Services. Its case managers assess eligibility, set care plans, and approve CDHCI hours. Alberta Maple Care is not partnered with, affiliated with, or endorsed by Assisted Living Alberta.

The regulatory term for someone allowed to perform a restricted activity without supervision — they hold the education, training, and legal authorization for that specific high-risk service.

The shortest visit a provider will book — commonly two to three hours in the industry. The program never grants extra funded time to meet a provider’s minimum, so any gap between your approved time and a minimum-visit charge is yours to pay. Ask every provider about theirs.

A federal credit for people supporting a spouse, partner, or dependant with a physical or mental impairment. Often claimable alongside home-care arrangements; confirm details with a tax professional.

The working document behind good home care: goals, tasks, schedule, who does what, and when to escalate. Ours are nurse-written and reviewed as needs change — see what a care plan looks like, line by line.

The Assisted Living Alberta professional who assesses care needs, builds the service care plan, approves CDHCI hours, educates families on the program, and reassesses when needs change. Not the same as a care manager at a provider — the case manager decides public funding; a provider coordinates delivery.

An Alberta program that lets approved home-care clients choose their own registered provider, who bills Alberta Blue Cross directly for each approved hour while the client pays the balance. No reimbursement paperwork, and you employ no one. Alberta Maple Care is a registered CDHCI provider — full walkthrough on our CDHCI page.

Sent by Alberta Blue Cross after the Letter of Agreement: it confirms your approval date, maximum monthly hours, the hourly rate the program pays, and your Alberta Blue Cross customer number — the number your provider needs in order to bill. If it hasn’t arrived within two weeks of signing, call your case manager.

A spouse, relative, or other trusted person who formally manages CDHCI on a client’s behalf: their contact information is shared with Alberta Blue Cross, and they sign paperwork, direct the schedule, and monitor care. If they sign the consent form instead of the client, proof of legal authority is required.

The regulatory college for Alberta’s LPNs and — since February 2, 2026 — Health Care Aides. It keeps the registers, sets standards of practice, and publishes the scope-of-practice guidance our careers page table is built on.

Meaningful connection — conversation, activities, presence — that counters the isolation shown to worsen health outcomes. Not fundable on its own under CDHCI, which is why families often blend a funded visit with private companionship time.

The form allowing Assisted Living Alberta to share your enrollment details (name, health care number, contact information, approved hours) with Alberta Blue Cross so claims can be processed. Your case manager prepares it.

Alberta’s legislation (in force April 1, 2024) governing the whole continuing-care system across its three streams: continuing care homes, supportive living accommodations, and home and community care. It replaced a patchwork of older acts with one framework.

The minimum quality-of-care requirements for publicly funded continuing-care providers. Type 1 and 2 home-care providers must comply; Type 3 providers (like CDHCI agencies) are not currently required to, though reviewing them is recommended practice — we treat them as the floor, not the ceiling.

The Act’s term for a licensed, publicly funded residential care facility. Type A was formerly called long-term care, Type B was designated supportive living, and Type C is hospice. Moving into one permanently ends CDHCI eligibility — the program exists to keep that move further away.

The Government of Alberta office that licenses continuing-care operators, receives serious-incident reports, and investigates complaints about publicly funded providers. Clients can reach it at 1-888-357-9339 (option 3).

The provider invoices Alberta Blue Cross for your approved hours — you never pay first and claim back. Under CDHCI, only registered agencies can submit claims, within 60 days of service.

A federal credit for people with a severe, prolonged impairment (or those supporting them). Qualifying can also unlock other supports. General information, not tax advice.

The legal requirement for all home and community care providers to report serious events or incidents — client harm, medication errors, alleged abuse, staffing failures that affect care — to the Government of Alberta within 48 hours.

An Alberta program supporting families raising a child with a disability, with funding and services that can include respite and specialized care. We coordinate with FSCD for pediatric and complex-needs clients.

A pause in CDHCI funding: automatic while you are in hospital or a facility respite bed (with a per-day reduction of the monthly maximum), and possible if more than 30 days pass without a provider or the annual reassessment is missed. Resolve the cause and funding can resume.

Since February 2026, a regulated health professional in Alberta. The Health Professions Act frames the role as assisting and supporting activities of daily living to provide basic personal care and health services. HCAs register with the CLHA and carry their own standards of practice and code of ethics.

Alberta’s law governing health information — who may collect it, how it must be protected, and your right to access it. Care records at Alberta Maple Care are handled under it; see our privacy policy.

Alberta’s free, 24/7 health advice line. Dialing 811 is also the simplest way to request a home-care assessment — no doctor’s referral needed.

The Alberta law that regulates health professions — including Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses and, since February 2026, Health Care Aides — through professional colleges, standards of practice, and the restricted-activities system.

Under the Continuing Care Act, publicly funded care and services provided in a person’s own home rather than a facility. Access starts with an Assisted Living Alberta assessment; delivery can be public staff, contracted agencies, or a client-chosen provider through CDHCI.

Intravenous medication or fluids — IV antibiotics, hydration, and other therapies — delivered at home by qualified nurses instead of a hospital chair. Fewer trips, same treatment schedule; see Nursing Care.

The standardized assessment an Assisted Living Alberta case manager completes to determine unmet care needs. Anyone can request one — yourself, a family member, or a health professional — with no physician referral required. It is the doorway to every publicly funded option.

Health-essential cleaning of the client’s immediate living space — bathroom, dishes, mobility-equipment cleaning, laundry, vacuuming, garbage. Under CDHCI it is never a standalone service: it must accompany personal care or respite.

The tasks that keep independent life running: meal preparation, housekeeping, shopping, managing medications, transportation, and finances. Trouble with IADLs is usually the earliest sign a household needs support.

The document that makes CDHCI official: it sets out the program’s terms and your responsibilities, and CDHCI is not in effect until you (or your CDHCI manager) sign and return it. Keep a copy.

A diploma-prepared, regulated nurse delivering hands-on nursing — wound care, medication administration, infusion therapy — within their scope. Regulated by the CLHA alongside Health Care Aides.

A separate Blue Cross organization that administers federal health claims, including Veterans Affairs Canada home-care benefits. If a veteran’s care is VIP-funded, the claims flow through Medavie Blue Cross.

A federal tax credit for eligible medical expenses, which can include attendant care at home. General information only — a tax professional can confirm what applies to your family.

Support with medications a person directs themselves — reminders, opening packaging, confirming the right blister-pack slot. Distinct from medication administration, where a nurse selects and gives the medication; the line between the two is a safety boundary, not a technicality.

A delivery model where a nurse assesses the client, writes the plan, supervises the caregivers, and stays accountable for outcomes — rather than caregivers working unsupervised. It is the spine of how Alberta Maple Care operates.

Comfort-focused support for a life-limiting illness: symptom monitoring, personal care, and family support so a person can remain at home as long as possible. CDHCI eligibility rules flex for palliative clients; provincial palliative home-care programs run alongside.

In the CDHCI program’s definition: assistance with personal hygiene, dressing, toileting, mobilization and transferring, home exercises, nutrition, medication assistance, and respiratory care. The core CDHCI-fundable service — ours is described on the Personal Care page.

A caregiver title that is not a regulated designation in Alberta. At Alberta Maple Care, PSWs provide day-to-day personal care within a nurse-set care plan and have no medication role — that structure is our model of safe supervision. The full comparison is in our HCA vs PSW article.

Alberta’s private-sector privacy law, covering the personal (non-health) information businesses collect — enquiries, employment applications, website analytics. It is the other half of our privacy policy, alongside the HIA.

Alberta legislation requiring reports of abuse involving adults receiving publicly funded care services. Every care worker is obligated to report — a safeguard that follows the client, whatever the setting.

A degree-prepared, regulated nurse who handles complex assessment, care planning, and clinical judgment. Alberta Maple Care’s care is RN-led: an RN assesses every client and supervises the plan.

Alberta Blue Cross’s official directory of CDHCI providers, with each provider’s service zones, languages, estimated rate, and minimum visit length. Your provider must come from this list — browse it here; Alberta Maple Care is on it.

Day, evening, or night care that gives an unpaid family caregiver a real break. One of the three CDHCI-fundable services, and available privately in flexible blocks — see Respite Care.

Health services the law reserves for authorized professionals because of their risk — think injections below the skin surface or invasive procedures. Health Care Aides are currently authorized for exactly one restricted activity, and only under the supervision of another regulated health professional.

The list of what a caregiver does on a visit, what a nurse does, what is booked separately, and what is not home care at all. One list drives every poster, card and page, so a family and a caregiver are never working from different rules — see what your caregiver does, or ask its task finder.

CDHCI‘s cousin with more control and more work: Assisted Living Alberta gives funds directly to the client (or their agent), who becomes the employer — hiring caregivers, scheduling, payroll, records, and reporting. Compare the two on ways to pay.

The document from your case manager listing the services you are assessed as needing and the maximum funded hours per month. You may share a copy with your chosen provider — a good provider builds its schedule around it.

A professional who helps families navigate systems: funding applications, housing decisions, family meetings, community resources. Alberta Maple Care deploys social workers to support clients, most of the time free of charge.

A licensed congregate residence — a lodge or similar setting — where people live independently but share meals, housekeeping, and some supports. CDHCI in congregate settings is approved only case by case through Assisted Living Alberta leadership.

The Continuing Care Act’s three delivery models: Type 1 is care delivered directly by the health authority’s own staff; Type 2 is care through an agency contracted by the health authority; Type 3 is care where the client receives public funding and chooses their own provider — CDHCI is the main example, and Alberta Maple Care is a registered Type 3 provider.

A Veterans Affairs Canada program helping eligible veterans stay independent at home with supports like personal care and housekeeping, typically billed through Medavie Blue Cross.