APPENDIX D: GLOSSARY OF TERMS
AAA: Access Austin Arts
ACC: Austin Community College
ADAPT: American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today
Adrenaleukodystrophies: A group of nervous system disorders that result in progressive deterioration of sensory, neural and muscular development and function.
AIDS: Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), is a specific group of conditions that result from the suppression of the body's natural immune response to an antigen (ICD-9 codes 042-044).
APS: Adult Protection Services
ARCIL: Austin Resource Center for Independent Living
ATCMHMR: Austin Travis County Mental Health Mental Retardation Center
Behavioral Risk Factor: A characteristic or behavior that is associated with increased probability of a specified outcome; the term does not imply a causal relationship.
Best Practices: Exemplary, effective services designed to assist persons with mental disabilities, such as Supported Employment, Supported Housing, and Assertive Community Treatment
Best Value: A balance of access, choice, cost, and quality.
CARTS: Capital Area Rural Transportation Service
CBA: Community Based Alternatives
Cerebral Palsy: A term used to describe a group of chronic conditions affecting body movement and muscle coordination. It is caused by damage to one or more specific areas of the brain, usually occurring during fetal development; before, during or shortly following birth, or during infancy. "Cerebral" refers to the brain and "palsy" to muscle weakness/poor control.
CLASS: Community Living Assistance & Support Services
Communicable Disease: Diseases that can be transmitted directly or indirectly from an infected individual, animal, or reservoir, to a susceptible host.
Community Action Network (C.A.N.): The C.A.N. Planning Partnerships are composed of a variety of community stakeholders and serve as planning authorities for health and human services in the Austin-Travis County community.
Community-based Services: Services provided to individuals, family members, or other caregivers in the community: These services are an alternative to facility-based services or institutions.
Consumers: Customers who are adults with mental illnesses, and/or substance abuse or dependence, and/or mental retardation; or children with mental illnesses, behavioral problems or developmental delays.
CORP/CORF: Comprehensive Outpatient Rehabilitation Program/Facility
CPS: Child Protective Services
DACT: Disability Assistance of Central Texas, Inc.
Death (Mortality) Rate: An estimate of the proportion of a population that dies during a specified period.
Demographics: Description of a population, especially with reference to size and density, fertility, mortality, growth, age distribution, gender and race/ethnic makeup, migration, and the interaction of all these with social and economic conditions.
DHS: Department of Human Services
Diabetes: A disease of the endocrine system that impacts the ability of the body to metabolize carbohydrates (ICD-9 code 250).
ECI: Early Childhood Intervention
Environment: All that which is external to the individual human host. Can be divided into physical, biological, social, cultural, etc., any or all of which can influence health status of populations.
Epigram: A computer program provided by the Texas Department of Health for analyzing Texas population and mortality data.
FY: Fiscal Year
FAPE: Free and Appropriate Public Education
HCS: Home and Community-Based Services
HMO: Health Maintenance Organization
HUD: Housing and Urban Development
Health Indicator: A characteristic of an individual, population, or environment, which is subject to measurement (directly or indirectly) and can be used to describe one or more aspects of the health of an individual or population (quality, quantity and time).
Healthy People 2000: (Healthy People 2000: National Health Promotion and Disease Objectives) - A national initiative that identifies 319 unduplicated objectives to improve the health of citizens of the United States. (Also Health Partnership 2000, an Austin collaboration of health care providers).
ICF-MR: Intermediate Care Facility-Mental Retardation
IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, passed by Congress in 1975, has helped to make marked progress by assuring the right of children with disabilities a free and appropriate public education up to and including age 22.
Incidence Rate: The number of new cases of an illness occurring in a population over a period of time. The numerator is the number of new cases occurring in a given time period and the denominator is the population at risk during the same time period.
Local Authority: An entity to which TDMHMR delegates its authority and responsibility within a specified region for planning, policy development, coordination, and resource development and allocation, and for supervising and ensuring the provision of services.
Local Provider: Any healthcare professional or organization that provides health care services, including doctors, hospitals, mental health centers, nurse practitioners, etc.
MHMR: Mental Health Mental Retardation
MR: Mental Retardation
MRLA: Mental Retardation Local Authority
MR/RC: Mental Retardation/Related Conditions
Measles: A vaccine preventable, acute viral illness characterized by a 2 to 4 day period of high-grade fever and cough followed by a generalized rash which lasts 5 to 6 days. Disease transmission occurs primarily from person-to-person through respiratory droplets (ICD-9 code 055).
Morbidity Rate: The rate of incidence of a disease.
Mortality (Death) Rates: The frequency of a death in a specified period of time divided by the population at risk for the event.
Prevalence Rate: The amount of a given disease or other condition in a given population at a designated point in time.
Priority Population: Persons who are most in need of services as defined by the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation.
PRS: Protection & Regulatory Services
Public Law 94-142:
QAIS: Quality Assurance and Improvement System is an outcomes-oriented self-assessment process used by local mental retardation authorities in the TDMHMR network to assist in assessing the quality of services delivered.
Risk Factor: Biological, psychological, or social conditions which might influence or increase the likelihood of an individual's developing, maintaining or increasing harmful behaviors or becoming more susceptible to conditions that reduce standards of health and well-being.
Service Coordination: Assistance in accessing medical, social, educational, and other appropriate services and supports that will help an individual achieve a quality of life and community participation acceptable to the individual.
Socioeconomic: Refers to the arrangement of persons into groups according to such characteristics as prior education, occupation, and income.
Stakeholders: Includes consumers, family members, community, and funders.
State Operated Facility: Facility operated by the state to provide services (e.g. Austin State Hospital or Austin State School).
STS: Special Transit Service
TDMHMR: Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation
TDH: Texas Department of Health
TRC: Texas Rehabilitation Commission
