Abbreviations List and Talking Point Jargon

[PamD]

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS SEEN IN TALKING POINT, AND SOME TALKING POINT JARGON

Here is a list of some abbreviations which crop up in Talking Point (TP) postings (and at the end a small "Jargon" section). They include some medical terms, some terms to do with the care/benefits labyrinth, a few abbreviations used in emails and texts generally, and some which just seem to be used on Talking Point. Some are included which may seem "obvious", but it seemed better to err on the side of helpfulness to stressed readers.

In an ideal world we'd all explain every abbreviation we use in our posts ... though not GP, NHS, etc ... but then we've got some non-UK readers too ... and often we're typing in stress if not actually in tears. So one way or another a list of abbreviations seems useful, along with the request that when posting please try to remember that other readers have widely varied experience and your "obvious" abbreviation might puzzle other people!

For more information on many of these topics, see the Alzheimer's Society's "A-Z of Dementia" at
http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/az_home.php


A

AA - Alzheimers Association (an AMERICAN organisation)
AA - Attendance Allowance
ABI - Acquired Brain Injury
ABs - Antibiotics
AD - Alzheimer's Disease
ADLs - Activities of Daily Living
AFAIK - As Far As I Know
AFO - Ankle Foot Orthosis
AKA - Also Known As
ALF - Assisted Living Facility (perhaps US terminology)
AM - Assembly Member (Wales)
AMHP - Approved Mental Health Practitioner
AQAA - Annual Quality Assurance Assessment (self-assessment by care homes etc)
AS - Alzheimers Society
AZ - Alzheimers Disease
B
BIL- Brother in Law
BM - Bowel Movement
BP - Blood Pressure
BTW - By The Way
C
CA - Carer's Allowance
CAB - Citizens Advice Bureau
CAT - Computer Aided Tomography – xray examination of the body displayed as sections
CBD - CorticoBasal Degeneration (=CBGD)
CBGD - CorticoBasal Ganglionic Degeneration (=CBD)
CCF - Congestive Cardiac Failure
CCSVI - Chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency
C Diff or maybe CD - clostridium difficile (a "superbug")
CD - Chronic diarrohea
CH - Care Home
CHC - Continuing Health Care (NHS)
CJD - Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
CLA - Community Legal Advice
CMHN - Community Mental Health Nurse
CMT - Charcot Marie Tooth disease (not a dental disease - nerve condition, named after Dr Tooth and others)
CoP - Court of Protection
COPD - Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
CP - Caring Partner
CPA - Care Programme Approach
CPN - Community Psychiatric Nurse
CQC - Care Quality Commission
CRAG - Charging for Residential Accommodation Guidelines
CSCI - Commission for Social Care Inspection
CSSIW - Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales
CT scan = CAT scan = Computer Aided Tomography
CVA - Cardio Vascular Accident
D
D&V - Diarrhea and Vomiting
DACS- Department of Adult Care and Support
DC - Day Centre / Day Care
DD/DS/DH/DW - Dear/Darling Daughter/Son/Husband/Wife (etc)
DIL - Daughter In Law
DLA - Disability Living Allowance
DLB - Dementia with Lewy Bodies
DN – District Nurse
DNR - Do Not Resuscitate
DoLS - Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards
DP - Direct Payments
DPA - Data Protection Act
DST - Decision Support Tool
DV - Deo volente/God willing OR D&V above
DVLA - Driver and Vehicle Licencing Authority
DVT - Deep Vein Thrombosis
DW - Dear Wife
DWP - Department of Work and Pensions
Dx - Diagnosis OR Discharge (from hospital)
E
ECG - Electro Cardiogram
ECT - Electro Convulsive Therapy
EDC - Enhanced Day Care/Centre
EEG - Electro Encephalogram (Electrodes attached to the brain to monitor brain activity)
EMH - Elderly Mental Health (unit, team, nurse, etc)
EMI - Elderly Mentally Infirm (unit, team, etc)
EMD - Elderly Mentally Dependent (unit, team, etc)
EMU - Elderly Mobility Unit - a ward that the elderly are taken if a break is suspected
EOAD - Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease
EPA - Enduring Power of Attorney (replaced by LPA)
ESA - Employment and Support Allowance (successor to Incapacity Benefit)
F
FACE - Functional Analysis of the Care Environment
FACS - Fair Access to Care Services
FFCHC - Fully Funded Continuing Health Care
FIL - Father in law
FOI - Freedom of Information Act
FTD - Frontotemporal Dementia
FTL - Fronto Temporal Lobal Disease
FWIW - For What It's Worth
G
GA - General Anaesthetic
GMC - General Medical Council
GP - General Practitioner (family doctor)
GSF - Gold Standards Framework (an end of life care framework)
H
HMRC - Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (the tax man)
HTH - (I) Hope That Helps (eg after offering some info or advice)
I
ICAS - Independent Complaints Advocacy Service
ICO - Information Commissioner's Office (Data Protection, Freedom of Information etc)
IHT - Inheritance Tax
IMCA - Independent Mental Capacity Advocate
IMHO/IMO - In My (Humble) Opinion
J
JSA - Job Seeker's Allowance (unemployment benefit)
L
LA - Local Authority (the council)
LBD - Lewy Body Disease
LCP - Liverpool Care Pathway
LFT - Liver Function Test
LHB - Local Health Board (Wales)
LO - Loved One
LOL - Laughing Out Loud OR Lots of Love
LPA - Lasting Power of Attorney (successor to EPA)
M
MAR - Medication Administration Record (kept by care homes etc)
MCA - Mental Capacity Act
MDT - Multi Disciplinary Team
MEP - Member of the European Parliament
MIL- Mother in law
MMSE - Mini Mental State Examination
MND - Motor Neurone Disease
MOD/MODERATOR - See Jargon section at end
MP - Member of Parliament
MRI scan - scanning with Magnetic Resonance Imaging
MRSA - Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (a "superbug")
MSP - Member of the Scottish Parliament
MSU - Midstream Sample of Urine
MI - Multple Infarction
N
NF - National Framework (for NHS Continuing Healthcare)
NH - Nursing Home
NHS - National Health Service (for the benefit of our overseas readers!)
NHS CC - NHS Continuing Care
NHS CHC - NHS Continuing Healthcare
NICE - National Institute for Clinical Excellence
NOK - Next Of Kin
O
OH - Other Half (spouse or partner)
OMG - Oh My God!
OP - Original Poster (ie the person who started the "Thread")
OPG - Office of the Public Guardian
OT - Occupational Therapist
OTOH - On The Other Hand
P
PALS - Patient Advice and Liaison Service
PC - Personal Computer OR Pension Credit
PCA - Posterior Cortical Atrophy (also referred to as Benson's syndrome)
PCT -Primary Care Trust/ local health authorities now
PDSG- Picks Disease Support Group
PEG - Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy (a feeding tube is inserted directly into the abdomen)
PET (scan) - Positron Emission Tomography
PHN - Primary Health Need
PICU - Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (in the USA and Oz, pediatric intensive care unit)
PIP - Personal Independence Payment (to replace DLA in 2013/14)
PM - Private Message See Jargon section at end
POA - Power Of Attorney
POC - Package Of Care
POV - Point Of View
POVA - Protection of Vulnerable Adults
PRIVATE MESSAGE - See Jargon section at end
PRN - (of medication) To be given as required (Latin: Pro Re Nata)
R
RMN - Registered Mental Nurse
RNCC - Registered Nursing Care Contribution
ROTFL - Rolling On The Floor Laughing
S
SALT - Speech And Language Therapy/ist
SAP - Single Assessment Process
SF - Step-Father
SHA - Strategic Health Authority
SIL - Sister in Law OR Son in Law
SM - Step-Mother
SMI - Severely Mentally Impaired (as in Council Tax exemption)
SNH - Skilled Nursing Home (perhaps US terminology)
SPECAL - Special Early Care for Alzheimer's
SPECT scan - Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography scan
SS - Social Services (department of the Local Authority)
STICKY - See Jargon section at end
SU - Service User
SW - Social Worker
T
TBH - To Be Honest
TFT - Thyroid Function Test
THREAD - See Jargon section at end
TIA - Transient ischaemic attack (mini-stroke) OR Thanks In Advance
TP - Talking Point(!)
TV - Tissue Viability (as in TV nurse, looking at pressure sores etc)
U
UTI - Urinary Tract Infection.
U&E's - Ureas & Electrolytes = testing for potassium levels
V
VA - Vulnerable Adult
VaD or VD - Vascular Dementia
W
WEF - With Effect From (date)
Y
YMMV - Your Mileage May Vary (ie everyone's experience is different!)

JARGON
See also the "HELP" information: click on "Help" on the bar at the top of the TP display.

MODERATOR: There are a group of volunteer Moderators (or "Mods") who keep an eye on Talking Point, remove any inappropriate messages, and generally help keep it a safe and useful place for everyone. They can edit messages posted by other members.

PERSONAL MESSAGE: A Private Message (or "PM") sent from one person to another within the Talking Point system. It cannot be read by other people.

To send a PM, click on the person's name and choose "Send a private message" from the list of options which appears. "PM" can also be used as a verb as in "If you PM me ...".

If you receive a PM, there will be a message at the top right of your screen. You can also arrange to get an email notification of any PMs: go to "My Account" at the top of the screen, then "Edit options" and look for the appropriate one.

STICKY: A thread which stays visible at the top of the list whether or not there have been any recent contributions. Used for information which will be useful to read at any time and needs to be easy to find.

THREAD: A series of messages created when one person creates a new message by clicking on "New Thread" and other people click on "New Reply" to add replies, comments, etc. You can use the "Thread Tools" (see button at top of page) to "subscribe" to a thread so that you get an email notification when anyone replies to it.





Based on Cliff's 2007 list (http://forum.alzheimers.org.ukshowth...?t=7944&page=6, post 81, in thread "Glossary of abbreviations"), with additions and editing by PamD.

[susiesue]

Hi Pam

What a brilliant idea and so helpful!

Love

[Christin]

Yes, quite brilliant. A sticky would be a great help.

[thatwoman]

What a wonderfully helpful lady you are! This will be so helpful as a sticky! Thanks, Sue xxx

[Grannie G]

Thank you Pam . I will stick this Thread . It will be most helpful.

[Onlyme]

What a great idea and it will save me having to look them up all the time.

May I also suggest

OH = other half and

DH = dear husband

[PamD]

Added GA and DVT from a current thread. Pam

[PamD]

EOAD spotted and added.

[PamD]

Added Enhanced Day Care/Centre - I hope it isn't specific to my own local authority, but I've come across it in the paperwork for the centre Mother is, if all goes well, going to start at tomorrow. Fingers crossed that she agrees to get on the minibus!

I think it means "can cope with dementia patients".

Pam

[Jancis]

Hi Pam, another one for you:
OP - Original Poster (on the forum). I do seem to have a lot of problems understanding things on this forum don't I? Thank goodness for your thread.

[PamD]

Thanks, Jancis - totally baffling when you first come across it, I know. OP added, along with an attempt to define "Thread"! ~~~~

[wdfortyplus]

Thank you Pam! Much Appreciated for the effort and work you have put into this list! Well Done!

[PamD]

Added CMT, after seeing it in Mignonne's thread. ~~~~

[Grannie G]

Thanks Pam.
You really are on the ball with this. I didnt give it a thought, yet I replied to the Thread and Googled for information.
Sorry.

[PamD]

AddDLB = Dementia with Lewy Bodies.