Resource Guide Glossary

Glossary of Terms

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P.A.	Physician's Assistant.
P.T.	See Physical Therapist.
Palliative Care	A program designed to reduce the severity of symptoms and/or decrease their impact on the individual, and to improve the quality of life.
Paraparesis	Weakness of the lower limbs.
Paraphasic Error	Substitution of an incorrect sound (e.g., tree for free) or related word (e.g., chair for bed).
Paraplegia	Paralysis of the lower limbs (from the waist down).
Parapnasias	Use of incorrect words or word combinations.
Parentral	Not through the alimentary canal (gastrointestinal tract) but rather by injection through some other route, such as subcutaneous, intramuscular or intravenous.
Parietal Lobe	One of the two parietal lobes of the brain.
Parietal Lobe - Right	Damage to this area can cause visual-spatial deficits (e.g., the patient may have difficulty finding their way around new or familiar places).
Parietal Lobe - Left	Damage to this area may disrupt a patient's ability to understand spoken and/or written language.
Pattern Of Movement	Motion of particular parts of the body (such as the hand and arm) in a typical, reproducible, sequence and direction.
Perception	The ability to make sense of what one sees, hears, feels, tastes or smells. Perceptual losses are often very subtle, and the patient and/or family may be unaware of them.
Perceptual-Motor	Interaction of the perceptual abilities with motor abilities.
Perseveration	Refers to the inappropriate persistence of a response in a current task which may have been appropriate for a former task. Perseverations may be verbal or motoric.
Persistent Vegetative State	A state in which the patient is awake but unaware. There is no cognitive content. There is a return of vegetative (autonomic) function, including control of respiration, digestion, and normal sleep/wake cycle.
Phlebitis	Inflammation of a vein.
Phonation	The production of sound by means of vocal cord vibration,
Physical Therapist	A health professional who works to maintain and improve the movement and function of joints and limbs. Physical therapists may begin to work with patients while they are still in the I.C.U. setting. Please see page 62 for a more detailed description.
Physiatrist	A physician, who is a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation. They are responsible for coordinating the rehabilitative needs of the patient.
Plasticity	The ability of cellular or tissue structures and their resultant function to be influenced by an ongoing activity.
Plateau	A temporary or permanent leveling off in the recovery process.
Posey Roll	A bar placed on the wheelchair to prevent a person from standing up or falling out.
Posey Vest/Houdini Jacket	A vest worn to keep the person in bed or in the wheelchair. This is for the person's safety.
Position Sense	The sensory awareness of body parts in the absence of movement. See kinesthesia and proprioception.
Post Traumatic Amnesia	(PTA) a period of hours, weeks, days or months after the injury when the patient exhibits a loss of day-to-day memory. The patient is unable to store new information and therefore has a decreased ability to learn. Memory of the PTA period is never stored, therefore things that happened during that period cannot be recalled. May also be called anterograde amnesia.
Posture	The attitude of the body. Posture is maintained by low grade continuous contraction of muscles which counteract the pull of gravity on body parts. Injury to the nervous system can impair the ability to maintain normal posture, for example, holding up the head.
Pre-Morbid Condition	Characteristics of an individual present before the disease or injury occurred.
Primary Care Nurse	The nurse principally responsible for the nursing care of a given patient. The primary care nurse develops and implements a care plan, participates in conferences, collaborates with the patient, the rehabilitation team, and the family, as well as evaluating the outcome of care.
Problem-Solving	Ability of the individual to bring cognitive processes to the consideration of how to accomplish a task.
Problem-Solving Skill	Ability to consider the probable factors that caninfluence the outcome of each of various solutions to a problem, and to select the most advantageous solution. Patients with deficits in this skill may become "immobilized" when faced with a problem. By being unable to think of possible solutions, they may respond by doing nothing.
Prognosis	The prospect as to recovery from a disease or injury as indicated by the nature and symptoms of the case.
Prone	Lying on one's stomach.
Proprioception	The sensory awareness of the position of body parts with or without movement. Combination of kinesthesia and position sense.
Prosody	The inflections or intonations of speech.
Prosthesis	An artificial substitute for a missing body part, such as an arm or leg, eye or tooth, used for functional or cosmetic reasons or both.
Prosthetist	A skilled craftsman who designs and makes artificial replacements for missing body parts, for example, an artificial leg.
Proximal	Next to or nearest the point of attachment.
Proximal Instability	Weakness of muscles of tile trunk, shoulder girdle or hip girdle which causes poor posture, abnormal movement of the arms or legs and tile inability to hold one's head up. Strength of muscles of the hands or legs may be normal.
Psychiatrist	A physician who specializes in tile prevention and management of emotional and behavioral problems with various means including the prescription of psychotrophic medication.
Psychologist	An expert in the diagnosis and management and prevention of emotional and behavioral problems who has doctural level education. Psychologists also assess patients' thinking abilities and they work closely with the rehabilitation team.
Psychomotor Skills	Skills that involve both mental and muscular ability such as playing sports or other activities where practice or concentration are involved.
Psychosocial Skills	Refers to the individual's adjustment to the injury and resulting disability, and one's ability to relate to others. Includes feelings about self, sexuality and the resulting behaviours.
Ptosis	Drooping of a body part, such as the upper eyelid, from paralysis, or drooping of visceral organs from weakness of the abdominal muscles.
Purposeful Movement	Motor activity with an apparent goal.

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Material for the glossary was provided by the Ontario Brain Injury Association (OBIA).