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Active Support Surface – A type of support surface with the ability to change load distribution properties with or without the applied load.

Adult Day Care – A non-residential facility which provides activities for elderly and/or handicapped individuals; most centers operate 10-12 hours per day and provide meals, social/recreational outings, and general supervision; adult daycare centers operate under a social model and/or a health care model, they may focus on providing care only for persons with Alzheimer’s and related dementias or their services may be available for any disabled adult; some have on-site nursing, some may provide transportation and personal care as well as counseling for caretakers.

Air – A component of supportive surfaces used to minimize the development of bed sores.  Example: alternating air mattress.

Air Fluidized Therapy – Aiding the person with a bedsore by using a bed that has body support using thousands of mini soda-lime glass beads which are suspended by pressurized, temperature-controlled air; the person is on a sheet which is over the beads; the specific bed is for people with or at high risk for posterior pressure sores, burns, grafts or donor areas; the pressure against the patient’s skin surface is less than the capillary refilling with blood flow which in turn helps re-grow tissue.

Albumin – Any protein with water solubility, which is moderately soluble in concentrated salt solutions, and experiences heat coagulation; egg whites contain albumin.

Alginates – An absorbent dressing for a wound that is made from soft non-woven fibers made from seaweed; the dressing forms a gel-like covering so the wound area is moist, but the dry dressing is lightweight.

Alternating Pressure – A feature of mattresses commonly used in patients who are at risk for developing bed sores or who may have developed bed sores already.  Alternating pressure mattresses provide redistribution of pressure via programmed changes in the hardness of the mattress.

Amputation – Removal of a body extremity by trauma or surgery.

Amyloid protein – Insoluble fibrous groups of proteins that share specific traits in structure.

Amyloidosis – Disease which occurs when amyloid proteins build up in organs.

Antimocrobials – Substance that kills or stops the growth of microorganisms.

Assisted Living Facility – A place that supervises and assists residents of that facility with activities of daily living, help with planning the services outside of the facility for health related needs, and watch the everyday activities to promote and keep their health, safety, and well-being. These facilities are regulated and licensed at state level.

Autolytic Debridement – The use of the body’s own enzymes and moisture to re-hydrate, soften and liquefy eschar and slough; the only tissue that is liquefied is necrotic and causes no pain to the patient.

Autonomic Dysreflexia – AD or “autonomic hyperreflexia” is characterized by large amounts of sympathetic discharge occurring in association with a spinal cord injury or disease; this is a medical emergency.

Autonomic Nervous System – A section of the peripheral nervous system that acts as the control system functioning below the level of consciousness and controls visceral functions such as: heart rate, salivation, sweating, pupil diameter, urination, and sexual arousal.

Autopsy – A way to determine the cause of death or progression of a disease through body examination post-mortum.