Appendix A: Glossary of terms
| Term | Definition | Brief definition |
|---|---|---|
| health provider | Refers to both regulated workers (e.g., nurses, physicians, dieticians and social workers) and unregulated workers (e.g., personal support workers) who are part of the interprofessional team. Regulated health and social service providers: The Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 (RHPA) governs the regulation of health professions in Ontario in order to protect the public. It outlines the scope of practice and the profession-specific controlled or authorized acts that each regulated professional is authorized to perform when providing health care and services (10). The regulations for social workers and social service professionals are outlined in the Social Work and Social Service Work Act, 1998 (11). In this BPG, nurses, physicians, occupational therapists and pharmacists are examples of regulated health providers, and social workers are an example of a regulated social service provider. Unregulated health and social service providers: This provider fulfills a variety of roles in areas that are not subject to the RHPA. They are accountable to their employers but not to an external regulating professional body (for example, the College of Nurses of Ontario). Unregulated health and social service providers only have the authority to perform a controlled act as set out in the RHPA if the procedure falls under one of the exemptions set out in the Act (12). | Refers to both regulated workers (e.g., nurses, physicians, dieticians and social workers) and unregulated workers (e.g., personal support workers) who are part of the interprofessional team. |
| Health-care provider | Refers to both regulated workers (for example, nurses, physicians, dieticians and social workers) and unregulated workers (for example, personal support workers) who are part of the interprofessional team. Regulated health provider: The Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA) governs the regulation of health professions in Ontario in order to protect the public. It outlines the scope of practice and the profession-specific controlled or authorized acts that each regulated professional is authorized to perform when providing health care and services (Health Professions Regulators of Ontario, 2022). Unregulated health provider: This provider fulfills a variety of roles in areas that are not subject to the RHPA. They are accountable to their employers but not to an external regulating professional body (for example, the College of Nurses of Ontario). Unregulated health providers only have the authority to perform a controlled act as set out in the RHPA if the procedure falls under one of the exemptions set out in the Act. (College of Nurses of Ontario, 2013) | Includes regulated health workers (e.g., nurses, dieticians) and unregulated health workers (e.g., personal support workers) |
| healthcare organization | An organization that provides health services in any health sector | An organization that provides health services in any health sector |
