Glossary

“Feels Like Home” features families of children with medical complexity and disability using various medical equipment, home modifications, and accessibility tools. Understanding these terms will help you follow the story, see how homes can be adapted to meet different needs, and appreciate the ways families support independence and daily life at home.

Accessibility Barriers: Physical, architectural, or environmental obstacles that hinder or prevent access, mobility, usability, or safety for people with disabilities within a living space. Examples include stairs without ramps, narrow doorways, high countertops, and lack of accessible features such as grab bars or visual alarms.
Accessible Housing: Homes that are constructed or modified to allow persons with medical complexity and/or disability to safely and independently participate in activities of daily living (e.g. bathing, moving around the home, getting dressed, preparing meals, etc.) and minimize caregiving needs.
Activity Chair: A versatile, adjustable chair designed for people who need extra support to sit upright. Activity chairs can facilitate more inclusion in play, learning, therapies, family time, and daily life.
Adaptive Equipment: Specially designed tools, devices, or machines that help someone with a disability or medical need carry out daily activities. Examples include eating utensils with larger handles, specialized seating, or adapted bikes.
Approved/Approval (Insurance): A decision by an insurance provider to authorize coverage for a specific service, treatment, medication, or equipment. Approval means the insurer agrees to pay for all or part of the cost, based on the individual's policy and medical necessity.
Assistive Technology: Devices, software, and systems that enhance learning, working, and daily living for persons with disabilities. This can range from low-tech items (like a pencil grip) to high-tech solutions (like communication devices or environmental control systems for lights and doors).
Children with Medical Complexity: Children with serious, chronic health conditions and ongoing needs that often require frequent medical care, specialized medical equipment or technology in the home, and assistance with daily activities. Many of these children also have physical, intellectual, developmental, behavioral, and/or sensory disabilities that result in functional limitations and varying levels of support needs. Families often adapt their homes in significant ways to build a safe, comfortable, and inclusive environment that supports their child’s care.
Cough Assist: A machine that helps clear mucus from the lungs by gently moving air in and out, simulating a natural cough. This supports people who cannot cough strongly on their own.
Feeding tube/pump, feeding bag: Equipment that delivers nutrition directly into the stomach or intestines. A feeding tube is the tube placed into the body (through the nose or directly into the stomach/intestines), while a feeding pump is the machine that controls the flow of liquid from a feeding bag of formula through the feeding tube. This setup is often used at home to ensure a person gets the nourishment and hydration they need. As seen in the film, some families will hang the feeding bag of formula from and clamp the pump to a metal IV pole. Feeding pump and bag can also be carried in a backpack for ease of transport.
Formula (Enteral): A nutritionally complete liquid food used for tube feeding when a person is unable to eat enough by mouth. Enteral formulas are delivered directly into the stomach or intestines through a feeding tube and are specially designed to meet an individual’s dietary and medical needs.
Gait Trainer: A supportive walking aid that provides stability and assistance for someone learning or practicing walking. More supportive than a traditional walker, it requires clear, open space in the home.
Health Insurance: Coverage that helps pay for medical care and equipment. Insurance can be private (through an employer or purchased individually) or public (such as Medicaid or Medicare). Some policies may cover certain home medical equipment, while coverage for home modifications (like ramps or showers) varies widely and may be limited/restricted.
Home Adaption/Home Modifications: Changes made to the home environment, both interior and exterior, to support independence, safety, function, comfort, and ease of caregiving. Changes could be structural, organizational, purchase of adaptive equipment or supplies. Some examples include ramps, stair lifts, shower hand grips, roll-in showers, widened doorways, electric bath chairs, medical supply organization closets, raised toilet seats, keyless entry, visual flashing smoke detectors, safety locks, sensory rooms, etc.
Hospital Bed: A hospital bed, or medical bed, is a specially designed bed that provides comfort and support for persons with medical needs. It features adjustable components like head and foot sections, and often side rails, to help manage a person’s condition, alleviate pain, prevent falls, and assist caregivers. Unlike a standard bed, hospital beds use motors or cranks to be raised, lowered, or angled, allowing for various positions that support good body alignment and make caregiving tasks easier and safer. Some also include special mattresses to prevent bed sores.
Lift: A mechanical system that helps a person move safely between different levels or areas of the home and other environments. They can also decrease back strain and risk of injury to the caregiver assisting with lifts/transfers. Examples seen in the film include entry lifts (porch or vertical platform lifts) to raise a wheelchair user up to a doorway or porch and stair lifts that carry a person along a staircase in a seat or platform. Additional examples include ceiling lifts that use a track and sling system to transfer someone between a bed, chair, or bathroom area, and portable floor lifts, which can be wheeled between rooms for flexible transfers.
Mobility Aides: Devices designed to help people who have limited mobility move around with greater freedom and safety. These include wheelchairs, walkers, canes, and gait trainers.
Nebulizer: A home medical device that turns liquid medicine into a fine mist to be breathed in through a mask or mouthpiece. It is commonly used for conditions like asthma or other lung conditions.
Ramp: A sloped surface that makes it easier and safer to get in and out of the home, or between rooms, without using steps. Ramps benefit wheelchair users, people with walkers, and anyone who struggles with stairs. They can be portable or permanent structures.
Scoliosis: An abnormal lateral curvature of the spine, typically forming an "S" or "C" shape. It can range from mild to severe and may cause uneven shoulders, back pain, or posture issues. Scoliosis is exacerbated by poor postural position in neuromuscular conditions. As mentioned in the film, properly fitted, specialized seating devices or wheelchairs may help decrease the progression of scoliosis.
Seizures: A sudden, uncontrolled electrical disturbance in the brain that can cause changes in behavior, movements, feelings, or levels of consciousness. Seizures can vary in type and severity and may be a one-time event or part of a chronic condition like epilepsy. Adaptations may be made to the home to prevent injury during a seizure, such as installing softer flooring (e.g., padded carpet) or covering sharp edges on tables.
Shower Chair: A waterproof chair that sits inside the shower so a person can bathe while seated. It provides safety, comfort, and independence, especially for those at risk of slipping.
Special Chair (slang): Informal term often used to refer to specialized seating devices or wheelchairs designed to provide individuals with disabilities comfortable and anatomically supportive posture. These chairs are tailored to meet specific physical needs and promote proper alignment and stability.
Stander: Equipment that supports a person to stand upright safely, even if they cannot stand independently. Standers can improve health (by supporting bones, breathing, and digestion) and allow for more interaction at home[CC5] , school, and in the community.
Stuffies and Squishmallows: Soft, plush toys that provide comfort, sensory support, or emotional reassurance. Often used by children and adults alike for play, relaxation, or therapeutic purposes.
Suction Machine: A device that removes mucus or fluids from a person’s airway using gentle suction. It is often kept at home for people who have difficulty clearing their throat or breathing passages on their own.
Supplies (Medical): Essential health-related items used to support the daily medical needs of children with disabilities. These may include feeding tubes, catheters, tracheostomy supplies, oxygen equipment, incontinence products, and respiratory care items. Medical supplies help manage chronic conditions, ensure safety, and support overall health and well-being at home or in care settings.
Syringes: Medical devices used to inject fluids into or withdraw fluids from the body. They consist of a hollow tube with a plunger and may be used for administering medications, flushing feeding tubes, or measuring liquids. Syringes come in various sizes and types, including oral, enteral, and injectable, depending on the medical need.
Universal Design: A design approach that makes spaces usable for everyone — regardless of age, size, ability, or other characteristics — without needing extra adaptations. Features like lever handles, wide hallways, and zero-entry showers benefit all.
Waiver/Self-Waiver: A waiver is a special program, through Medicaid, that allows a state to help cover the cost of supportive services, equipment, or home modifications, so people with disabilities can live safely at home and in the community instead of in institutions. A self-waiver, also known as self-directed service program, self-directed services, or consumer-directed services, is a type of waiver program that lets families or individuals to choose and manage their own support services, such as selecting caregivers or equipment that fits their needs at home.
Wheelchair: A mobility device, either manual or powered, that helps someone move when walking is difficult or not possible. Using a wheelchair at home may require ramps, wider doors, smooth flooring, and open layouts.
Wound Care Supplies: Medical products used to clean, protect, and promote healing of wounds. These may include items such as bandages, gauze, wound dressings, adhesive tapes, antiseptics, and ointments. Wound care supplies are often used for surgical wounds, pressure sores, burns, or chronic skin conditions and may be covered by insurance with a doctor’s prescription.
Zero-Entry Shower: A shower with no step or ledge to enter, allowing safe and easy access for people using wheelchairs or roll-in bath chairs. It also reduces the risk of trips and falls for the person with disabilities and any caregivers who might be supporting bathing.