What do you call the person receiving care?

Since becoming a caregiver, I’ve learned the healthcare industry commonly uses different words to mean the same thing - or vice versa - uses the same word to mean different things.

The bible says Joanna and Mary cared for Jesus while he was dying. The role, profession, and act of caregiving has been around since biblical times - but we're still not comfortable talking about it.

What’s the right word for someone who receives care from a caregiver? A word that’s accurate and respectful to mean “a person receiving care from another person” particularly with aging adults.

• “Care-recipient” refers to someone who receives care. It’s got a neutral tone, and is specific to caregiving circumstances. It’s formatted the same as “Care-giver” for purposes of equality.
• “Client” refers to someone who receives non-family care from a healthcare provider. It’s not specific to the healthcare industry, and it’s a safe common denominator for elder care services.

If a caregiver gives care, what do you call the person receiving care?

Most people are pretty comfortable calling a family caregiver by the simple term of “caregiver”.

But what’s the correct term for the person who the caregiver is caring for? The terminology isn’t as clear cut in this case. There are all types of ways people refer to the person receiving care.

Here are a few ways to look at it.

Care-giver and Care-taker (one way to put it)

Give and Take. Two simple concepts. There are only two options, you give or you take.

Many people use the terms “caregiver” and “caretaker” interchangeably, so we’ve got a polar opposite situation. If you say “caretaker”, the other person may have either interpretation. Hit or miss.

Some people think the term “caretaker” is offensive or demeaning.

“Caretaker” in my opinion is the worst term of all for these reasons.

Care-giver and Care-receiver (in family caregiving situations)

My family threw this idea into the air while talking about the controversial “Caretaker”. What about “Care-receiver”.

Care-receiver has a much nicer loop to it that Care-taker, and it’s a logical opposite of Care-giver. You give and you received.

Instead of a zero-sum battle between giving and taking, this one sounds more like Christmas Day. It is better to give than to receive.

What do you think?

I like it!

What do you call an elderly person who receives in-home care from a family member?

The person who gives care is called the “Caregiver”. The person who receives care is called the “Carereceiver”. 

This applied to both unpaid and paid caregiving circumstances, and believe me there are several thousands of people in both groups in Michigan.

How should I say it when I’m the caregiver?

• Family Caregiving: “Big Poppa is a care-recipient of mine.” puts Big Poppa first. “I’m a caregiver to Big Poppa.” puts me first. You can choose how you like, or combine them. “I’m Big Poppa’s caregiver, and Big Poppa’s my care-recipient”.
• Non-Family Caregiving: “Big Poppa is a client of mine.” puts Big Poppa first. “I’m a healthcare provider to Big Poppa.” puts the professional caregiver first. (Though your employer likely has an SOP for how you should introduce yourself.)

What’s the politically correct term for someone receiving care from a health agency or nursing home?

A healthy adult has no qualms referring to themselves as a “Patient” under the care of medical staff. It’s a responsible opt-in choice for a healthy adult who has good insurance from their employer, with a mild hint of arrogance for having the means and status to afford a doctor to care for the healthy adult.

For an aging person who requires care to maintain quality of life, you can see how the term “Patient” takes on a much different connotation. Now the “Patient” sounds like someone on a sickbed who is incapable of caring for themselves.

When referring to a recipient of health services, “Patient” is a term best used for opt-in services by generally healthy people, not necessarily when the person needs the health services to survive.

Many health care providers prefer to use the term “Client” when referring to the people they serve. For example, the “Client” of a nursing home is an aging person who resides at the nursing home and receives care from nursing home staff.

“Client” is a neutral term that won’t offend. “Client” works in all circumstances where the family member receives care from outside the family (good), but it’s less descriptive because “Clients” exist in all industries, so “Client” is less associated with healthcare.

Keeping PC with Caregiving

Referring to an old person (respectfully)

And what’s a respectful way to call an old person? Is it best to say elderly, aged, older, elder, seasoned, or geriatric? 

In 2022, I think “aging” is a good way to put it. GeriPal gives the advice:

“Never be the first to use a new descriptive term for older people nor the last to give up an old one.”

Asking if someone’s dead (professionally)

And what’s a respectful way to ask if someone’s dead? Is it best to say passed away, deceived, or gone to heaven?

One time, a professional from the PACE Program was getting to know my basic information and asked me, “Is your mother still with us?” I thought that was a highly professional way to ask if my mom was still alive.