2022 Georgia Code
Title 49 - Social Services
Chapter 6 - Services for the Aging
Article 6 - Georgia Family Caregiver Support
§ 49-6-72. Definitions

As used in this article, the term:

1. “Adult” means a person 18 years of age or older residing within the State of Georgia who is a functionally dependent older adult or who is suffering from dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
2. “Area agency on aging” means the single local agency designated by the Division of Aging Services of the department within each planning and service area to administer the delivery of a comprehensive and coordinated plan of social and other services and activities in the planning and service area.
3. “Dementia” means: (A) an irreversible global loss of cognitive function causing evident intellectual impairment which always includes memory loss, without alteration of state of consciousness, as diagnosed by a physician, and is severe enough to interfere with work or social activities, or both, and to require continuous care or supervision; or (B) the comatose state of an adult resulting from any head injury.
4. “Department” means the Department of Human Services.
5. “Functionally dependent older adult” means a person 60 years of age or older residing within the State of Georgia who, because of his or her inability to perform tasks required for daily living, as defined by the department and as may be assessed through an area agency on aging or community care assessment team, needs continuous care and supervision.
6. “Home modification” means reasonable modifications to the structure of a home for the purpose of reducing the caregiving burden of the caregiver, as approved by the department, but does not include repairs and payment for such repairs.
7. “Household income” means the income of all members of a household with the exception of a minor or dependent student.
8. “Income” means all income, from whatever source derived, including, but not limited to, wages, salaries, social security or railroad retirement income, public assistance income, realized capital gains, and workers’ compensation. The department shall determine income amounts and inclusions for the purposes of this article through regulation.
9. “Primary caregiver” means the one identified relative or other person in a relationship of responsibility, such as an agent under a valid durable power of attorney for health care, a health care agent under a valid advance directive for health care, or a mental health care agent under a valid psychiatric advance directive, who has assumed the primary responsibility for the provision of care needed to maintain the physical or mental health of a functionally dependent older adult or other adult suffering from dementia, who lives in the same residence with such individual, and who does not receive financial compensation for the care provided. A substantiated case of abuse, neglect, or exploitation, as defined in Chapter 5 of Title 30, the “Disabled Adults and Elder Persons Protection Act,” or pursuant to any other civil or criminal statute regarding an older adult, shall prohibit a primary caregiver from receiving benefits under this article unless authorized by the department to prevent further abuse.
10. “Relative” means a spouse, parent, child, stepparent, stepchild, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, aunt, uncle, great aunt, great uncle, niece, or nephew by blood, marriage, or adoption.
11. “Respite care service” means a regular, intermittent, or emergency service which provides the primary caregiver of a functionally dependent older adult or other adult suffering from dementia with relief from normal caregiving duties and responsibilities.

History. Code 1981, § 49-6-72 , enacted by Ga. L. 1994, p. 455, § 1; Ga. L. 2007, p. 133, § 18/HB 24; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 2-2/HB 228; Ga. L. 2013, p. 141, § 49/HB 79; Ga. L. 2022, p. 611, § 2-30/HB 752.

The 2013 amendment, effective April 24, 2013, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, inserted “of age” near the beginning of paragraph (1).

The 2022 amendment, effective July 1, 2022, in the first sentence in paragraph (9), substituted “health care, a health care agent” for “health care or health care agent”, and inserted “or a mental health care agent under a valid psychiatric advance directive,”.

Code Commission notes.

Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1994, “workers’ ” was substituted for “worker’s” in the first sentence in paragraph (8).

Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2006, “Disabled Adults and Elder Persons Protection Act” was substituted for “Disabled Adults Protection Act” in the last sentence of paragraph (9).

Editor’s notes.

Ga. L. 2007, p. 133, § 1/HB 24, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “(a) The General Assembly has long recognized the right of the individual to control all aspects of his or her personal care and medical treatment, including the right to insist upon medical treatment, decline medical treatment, or direct that medical treatment be withdrawn. In order to secure these rights, the General Assembly has adopted and amended statutes recognizing the living will and health care agency and provided statutory forms for both documents.

“(b) The General Assembly has determined that the statutory forms for the living will and durable power of attorney for health care are confusing and inconsistent and that the statutes providing for the living will and health care agency contain conflicting concepts, inconsistent and out-of-date terminology, and confusing and inconsistent requirements for execution. In addition, there is a commendable trend among the states to combine the concepts of the living will and health care agency into a single legal document.

“(c) The General Assembly recognizes that a significant number of individuals representing the academic, medical, legislative, and legal communities, state officials, ethics scholars, and advocacy groups worked together to develop the advance directive for health care contained in this Act, and the collective intent was to create a form that uses understandable and everyday language in order to encourage more citizens of this state to execute advance directives for health care.

“(d) The General Assembly finds that the clear expression of an individual’s decisions regarding health care, whether made by the individual or an agent appointed by the individual, is of critical importance not only to citizens but also to the health care and legal communities, third parties, and families. In furtherance of these purposes, the General Assembly enacts a new Chapter 32 of Title 31, setting forth general principles governing the expression of decisions regarding health care and the appointment of a health care agent, as well as a form of advance directive for health care.”