Adaptive Equipment: durable medical equipment intended to help a person perform their daily self-care tasks with less help, less pain, or less effort.

ADLs: Activities of Daily Living. Tasks that must be carried out on a daily basis such as personal care, hygiene, dressing, toileting, and feeding.

Assistive Device: durable medical equipment intended to help a person move in their environment more safely with less help, less pain, or less effort.

IADLs: Instrumental Activities of Daily Living. Tasks that contribute to a person’s ability to be self-sufficient in the community. These may include financial management, shopping, laundry, meal preparation and transportation, among other tasks.

Multidisciplinary Team: In rehabilitation, a team that includes Physicians of Rehabilitation Medicine (Physiatrists), Rehabilitation Nursing staff, Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech-Language Pathologists, Clinical and Medical Social Workers, and Psychologists.

Physiatrist: A medical doctor with advanced training in physical medicine. These physicians have a primary focus on helping people regain lost function or prevent future loss of function. Physiatrists may be instrumental for a range of patients that have lost function including (but not limited to): the injured worker or athlete, a patient with chronic pain, neurologic condition, or other musculoskeletal impairment.

Progressive Neurological Condition: Disease of the nervous system (brain, spinal cord or peripheral nerves) that often includes relapses or worsening over time as the disease process continues to spread. Examples include Parkinson’s Disease, Huntington’s Chorea, Multiple Sclerosis. Alzheimer’s Disease is another example, yet this is typically not a condition that requires inpatient rehabilitation.