Home care glossary

Activities of daily living (ADLs)

Activities of daily living are the basic self-care tasks a person does every day: bathing, dressing, eating, moving between a bed and a chair, using the toilet, and managing continence. Health professionals use ADLs to describe how independently someone can live and how much day-to-day support they may need at home.

Instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs)

Instrumental activities of daily living are the more complex tasks needed to run a household and live independently, such as preparing meals, shopping, managing money, taking medications on schedule, using the phone, doing housework, and arranging transport. A person may manage basic self-care well yet still need help with IADLs, which is often the first sign that home support could be useful.

Care plan

A care plan is a written summary of a person's health needs and the support they receive. It typically lists diagnoses, medications, daily routines, goals, and who is responsible for each task. In home care, a care plan helps family members and caregivers work from the same information and notice when something changes.

Care recipient

A care recipient is the person receiving care — for example an older adult recovering at home, a child with ongoing health needs, or someone living with a chronic condition. The term is used to distinguish the person being cared for from the caregiver and from family members who arrange or coordinate the care.

Care sheet

In SoftCare, the care sheet is a live, shared clinical record kept during care sessions. The CareGiver logs vital signs, pain levels, medications given, food and fluid intake and output, wound care, mood, sleep, and general observations, and family members can follow the entries as they are added. On the Premium plan, the care sheet can be exported as a PDF or JSON file.

CareGiver verification (shield badge)

Every CareGiver on SoftCare goes through identity and licence verification before they can accept bookings: a government photo ID, a professional licence number with its expiry date, and a live selfie, reviewed within 24 to 48 hours. A shield badge on a profile means identity and licence have been confirmed. It is not a rating of clinical skill.

Chronic disease management

Chronic disease management is the ongoing support of long-term conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, COPD, or hypertension. At home, it usually involves following a treatment plan set by a doctor: taking medications on schedule, tracking symptoms and vital signs, keeping appointments, and adjusting daily routines. Consistent monitoring helps a person's medical team spot changes early.

Companion care

Companion care is non-medical support focused on company and everyday help: conversation, shared meals, light housekeeping, errands, walks, and accompaniment to appointments. It does not include clinical tasks such as giving injections or wound care. Companion care is often used to reduce loneliness and to give families reassurance that someone is regularly present.

Dementia care

Dementia care is support for people living with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia. It focuses on safety, familiar routines, clear communication, and patience with memory loss and confusion. Care may include supervision, help with daily tasks, gentle activities, and managing changes in behaviour. Staying in a familiar home environment can reduce distress for many people.

Elderly care (geriatric home care)

Elderly care, also called geriatric home care, is support that helps older adults live safely at home as their needs change with age. It can range from companionship and help with daily tasks to nursing-level care for complex conditions. Common elements include fall prevention, medication reminders, mobility support, and monitoring for changes in health or mood.

Fall prevention

Fall prevention covers the steps taken to reduce the risk of falls, which are a leading cause of injury in older adults. At home it includes removing trip hazards, improving lighting, installing grab bars, reviewing medications that affect balance, encouraging safe footwear, and supervised movement. Caregivers also watch for changes in strength or steadiness that raise the risk.

Home care

Home care is professional support delivered in a person's own home rather than in a hospital or care facility. It spans non-medical help — companionship, housekeeping, personal care — and clinical services such as nursing, wound care, and medication management. Home care lets people stay in familiar surroundings while receiving the level of support their situation requires.

Home nursing

Home nursing is clinical care provided at home by a licensed nurse. Typical tasks include giving medications and injections, wound care, monitoring vital signs, managing catheters or feeding tubes, and post-operative checks. Home nursing follows a plan set by the treating doctor and suits people who need medical care but do not need to stay in hospital.

Hospice care

Hospice care is support for people in the final phase of a terminal illness, when treatment aimed at cure has stopped. The focus shifts entirely to comfort: managing pain and other symptoms, and supporting the person and their family emotionally and practically. Hospice care can be provided at home, in a hospice facility, or in hospital.

Hourly rate (caregiving)

An hourly rate is the price a caregiver charges for each hour of care. On SoftCare, each CareGiver sets their own hourly rate, and it is shown on their profile before you book. SoftCare charges patients a 0% platform fee, so the rate the CareGiver sets is the amount you pay, with no markup added by the app.

Lead time (booking)

Lead time is the minimum notice required between making a booking and the start of the care session. On SoftCare, the lead time is 2 hours, which gives the CareGiver time to confirm and travel. Bookings can be made up to 30 days ahead, last a minimum of 1 hour, and can be cancelled free of charge until 24 hours before the session.

Medication management

Medication management is the organised handling of a person's medicines: keeping an up-to-date list, giving the right dose at the right time, watching for side effects, reordering prescriptions before they run out, and storing medicines safely. It matters most for people who take several medications, where missed or doubled doses can cause real harm.

Mobility support

Mobility support is help with moving safely: getting in and out of bed, standing up from a chair, walking, using stairs, and handling aids such as walkers or wheelchairs. Caregivers use safe transfer techniques to protect both the person and themselves. Good mobility support preserves independence and lowers the risk of falls and pressure injuries.

Oncology support care

Oncology support care is practical and physical support for people undergoing cancer treatment, provided alongside — not instead of — their medical care. At home it can include help managing treatment side effects such as fatigue and nausea, medication reminders, nutrition support, transport to appointments, and rest and recovery between chemotherapy or radiotherapy sessions.

Paediatric home care

Paediatric home care is professional care for babies, children, and teenagers in their own home. It covers situations such as recovery after surgery, chronic conditions like asthma or diabetes, complex medical needs, and support for premature infants after hospital discharge. Care is adapted to the child's age and development, and usually involves close cooperation with parents.

Palliative care

Palliative care is specialised care that relieves the symptoms and stress of a serious illness, with the goal of improving quality of life. Unlike hospice care, it can be given at any stage of illness and alongside curative treatment. It addresses pain, breathlessness, anxiety, and other symptoms, and supports the family as well as the patient.

Polypharmacy

Polypharmacy means taking several medications at the same time, commonly defined as five or more. It is frequent in older adults with multiple conditions and raises the risk of drug interactions, side effects, and dosing mistakes. Regular medication reviews with a doctor or pharmacist, and careful day-to-day medication management at home, are the standard ways to reduce these risks.

Post-surgery home care

Post-surgery home care is support during recovery after an operation, once a person has been discharged from hospital. It can include wound care and dressing changes, help with washing and dressing, medication schedules, watching for signs of infection, and gradually rebuilding mobility. The aim is a safe recovery at home and fewer avoidable hospital readmissions.

Respite care

Respite care is temporary care that steps in so a family caregiver can rest, travel, work, or attend to their own health. It can last a few hours or several days and takes place at home or in a facility. Regular respite helps prevent caregiver burnout, which is common when one person carries most of the caregiving load.

SOS alert

In SoftCare, the SOS button is an in-app safety feature. Pressing it immediately alerts the person's designated contact and the SoftCare safety team. It does not replace emergency services: in a medical emergency, always call your local emergency number first, then use the SOS button so your contact and the safety team are also informed.

Vital signs

Vital signs are the basic body measurements used to check how someone is doing: body temperature, pulse (heart rate), breathing rate, and blood pressure. Oxygen saturation is often measured as well. Tracking vital signs over time helps caregivers and medical teams spot changes early. In SoftCare, vital signs recorded during a session are logged in the shared care sheet.

Wound care

Wound care is the cleaning, treatment, and monitoring of wounds so they heal well and do not become infected. It includes changing dressings, keeping the wound clean, watching for warning signs such as increasing redness, swelling, discharge, or fever, and documenting how the wound changes over time. Complex or slow-healing wounds are usually managed by a nurse following a doctor's instructions.

Wound debridement

Wound debridement is the removal of dead, damaged, or infected tissue from a wound so healthy tissue can heal. It can be done surgically, with special dressings, with enzymes, or by other clinical methods. Debridement is a medical procedure carried out by trained professionals under a doctor's direction — it is not something to attempt without clinical training.