Public Health Plain Language Guide

Plain Language Glossary

Please use the links below to jump to the terms that begin with your selection or download the guide as a PDF.

BEGINS WITH:
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Z

A

Abrasion
Cut, scratch, scrape

Accelerate
Hurry, speed up, move fast

Accessible
Available, on hand, easy to understand, usable

Accurate
True, right, correct

Accommodate
Work with, provide, provide shelter

Acute
Short term, quick, severe (or strong/very bad)

Addict
Person with an addiction disorder

Addiction
A very strong urge to do something that is hard to control or stop

Additional
Extra, added, more

Adequate
Enough, the right amount

Acquire
Get

Activate
Begin, start, act

Adhere
Sticks to

Administer
Give, take care of

Adverse
Bad, dangerous, hurtful, harmful

Advocate
Support, support person

Aerosol
Spray, mist

Aggravate
Make worse, harm, anger, hurt

Allergen
Something that causes the body to react by sneezing or forming a rash, reaction to something (for example, food).

Alleviate
Lessen, ease, soften, improve, make better

Anaphylaxis
Shock, a sudden and severe (or strong/very bad) allergic reaction, stop
breathing, throat closing up

Annual
Every year, once a year, each year

Antibiotic
Drug, medicine, drug that fights bacteria, medicine that fights infection/disease/sickness

Antibody
Your body’s way to fight off infection/disease/sickness, cells that fight infection/disease/sickness

Anticipate
Expect, think

Antiviral
Medicine, a drug that helps fight viruses

Anxiety
Worry, fear

Approximate/approximately
About, around, near, close, estimate,

Arrhythmia
Skipped heartbeat, irregular heartbeat, heart problem

Asses/Assessment
Review, sum up, evaluate, to determine value, find

Associated with
Linked to, related to, is part of, goes along with

Asymptomatic
Someone who is sick but does not feel or look sick, someone who does not know they are sick because they aren’t showing signs of being sick

Attain
Get, reach, receive

Authorization
Approval, okay, let, allow

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B

Bacteria
Germs or “bugs”

Booster shot
A shot you get months or years after your first shot, to keep you safe from disease

Breakthrough infection
Getting a disease even though you’ve been vaccinated against it

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C

Capacity
What a person or organization can do, can hold, manage

Carcinogen
Cancer causing

Cardiology
Medical department that treats heart problems

Cardiovascular
Having to do with heart and blood vessels

Case fatality ratio
How many people can die from a disease

Catastrophe
Disaster

Cease
End, stop, quit

Center for Disease Control and Prevention
CDC, officials, experts 

Chronic
Constant, never ending, does not go away, long term

Chronic Disease
A type of disease or sickness that doesn’t go away or goes on for a long time

Combination Vaccine
A vaccine that helps protect against more than one type of disease

Communicable
Catching, can be spread, can be passed to other people, can make other people sick, infection

Community immunity
The protection people who aren’t vaccinated get when most other people in their community are vaccinated

Comply
Do, follow, give in, obey, agree to

Comprehensive
Complete

Conclusive
Definite, final, last

Congenital
Born with, there at birth

Consent
Accept, let, permit, allow

Contact
Talk to, call, write, get in touch with

Contagious
Catching, spreading, able to make others sick, a disease that can be spread from one person to another; someone who is sick and might make you sick as well

Contraceptive
Birth control

Contaminate/Contaminated
Dirty, unsafe, not clean

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D

Data
Information, facts, numbers

Deficiency
Lack, not enough, without

Degenerative
Weaken, get weak, worsen, get worse, decline

Detect
Find, discover

Detrimental
Bad, harmful, dangerous

Dilute
Weaken, make weaker, add liquid

Disease
Illness, sickness

Disaster
When things don’t go as planned, a bad event

Disorder
Illness, medical problem, condition

Disproportionate
Uneven, affecting a group of people more than others

Dissemination (disseminate)
Send out, share with, make available

Distinguish
Tell apart, set apart

Distribute/Distribution
Hand out, give, mail

DNA
Genes, traits, information that gets carried from one generation to the next, gene information

Dose
Amount of medicine; amount, size

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E

Effect
Result, how something works, impact, reaction

Effective
Works well, good,

Efficacy rate
How well something works

Eligible to enroll
Can sign up, can join

Eliminate
Stop, end, drop, get rid of

Endemic
A sickness that is around all of the time, a sickness that happens in an area or community

Ensure
Make sure

Environment
All the things around you in your daily life, at home, and at work

Epidemic
Disease that most people get at one time, widespread sickness

Epidemiologist
Expert, public health expert, disease detectives, someone who looks at how many people are sick and works with numbers to understand why people are getting sick

Epidemiology
The study of the spread or pattern of sickness in a group of people

Escalate
Worsen, make worse, get worse, increase, grow

Establish
Set, set up, prove, show, start

Evaluate
Determine, study, collect information

Evidence-based
Uses facts, shown to work, proven to work

Examine
Look at, check, test

Exclusions
Not included, services not covered

Exposure /Exposed
Around, been around, contact, come in contact with

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F

Facilitate
Help, guide

Factor
Cause, reason

Feasible
Can be done, doable, possible

Febrile
Cause by a fever, feverish

Fluctuate
Change

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G

Genes
Information that gets carried from one generation to the next

Gestation
Pregnancy, expecting a baby, how far along in pregnancy  

Global
Around the world

Glucose
Sugar, energy (if additional context is available), blood sugar

Guidelines
Steps to follow, directions, rules

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H

Hand hygiene
Hand washing, wash hands, clean hands

Hazard/Hazardous
Harmful, danger

Health care provider
Health professional; doctor; nurse; dentist; pharmacist; people who take care of you or provide health care

Health care setting
Doctor’s office, hospital, clinic, place for tests

Health disparities
Differences in health among people

Herd immunity
Group protection from a disease, community immunity

Hospitalization
Time in the hospital

Hygiene
Clean, cleanliness, keeping yourself and your surroundings clean

Hypertension
High blood pressure

Hypotension
Low blood pressure

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I

Identify
Name, find, show

Immune
Protected from

Immune System
Body’s natural defenses against germs and sickness, body’s ability to fight germs and sickness

Immunity
Protection from disease, ability to fight off a sickness

Immunization
Shot, vaccine, jab 

Impact
Result

Implement
Start, put into action, carry out

Incidence Rate
How often something happens in a group of people during a certain time

Increasingly
More often, more and more

Incubation period
The length of time a disease is in someone’s body before they feel or look sick

Indigenous
Local to, comes from

Infant
Baby, baby under one year old

Infect, Infection
Disease spread by germ or virus, to get sick, to make someone sick, to spread a disease

Inflammation
Swelling, injury, sore

Inform
Tell, share, give information

Influenza
Flu

Ingest
Swallow, eat or drink, take into the body

Inherit
Acquire, get, obtain, be left; get from your family members

Initiative
Program, project

Inject
Give a shot or vaccine, insert, place

Injection
Shot, to give medicine by needle, booster

Insufficient
Not enough, too little, failing, poor

Intake
Take in, eat

Integrate
Combine, bring together, join

Intervention
Action, treatment, program

Intravenous (IV)
Into your vein, into your blood stream, putting drugs or fluids directly into your blood

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J

Jeopardize
Put in danger

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L

Live vaccine
A vaccine that has a weakened form of the virus in it

Localized
In a small area, spot, one area

Long-term
For a long time

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M

Maintain
Keep, keep up, look after, support, take care

Mammogram
To check the health of the breast, a test like an x-ray to check the breast for lumps or cancer

Manage
Take care of, watch, be in charge of

Medicine, Medication
Drug, pill, treatment

Mental Health condition
Mental illness

Methods (in regards to a study)
How it was carried out or done

Migration
Moving from one place to another

Modify
Change, fix

Mold
Growth on food and damp surfaces

Monitor
Watch, check on, watch for changes, devices that measures changes

Morbidity
Sick, ill

Mortality
Death, die

Mortality rate
How many people are dying

Mutate, Mutation
Change over time, change, different

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N

Narcotic
pain medicine given by a doctor (can become addictive if not used right). See addiction for more plain language options.

Necessary
Needed, required

Negligent
Not careful

Neonatal
Newborn

Nonprescription
Not ordered by your doctor, can buy at the store

Notification
Notice

Notify
Let us know

Noxious
Dangerous

Numerous
Many

Nutritious
Food that is good for you, healthy food, healthy

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O

Obesity
Overweight, unhealthy weight, having too much body fat

Objective
Goal, what needs to happen

Obtain
Get, receive

Occupation
Job

Occur
Take place

Occurrence
Something happens, event, one-time event, rate

Opportunity
Chance

Optimal
Best, best way

Otherwise
Or

Outcome
Result

Overabundance
Too much

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P

Permissible
Allowed

Persistent
There all the time, often

Pertinent
Important

Physical activity
Exercise, moving your body

Poison/Poisoning
Something harmful/bad for your body

Pollute
Dirty

Potency
Strength

Prescribed
Ordered, directed

Prevalence
Number of sick people, how common

Prevalent
Common, many places or people

Preventable
Can keep from happening

Probability
Chance

Prolonged
Long time

Protocol
Way of doing things, process

Public health
Health and safety of the community, community health

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Q

Qualified
Capable, expert

Quarantine
Staying away from other people

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R

Radiology
X-ray department

Rampant
Uncontrolled, out of control, widespread

Range
Include, go from

Recipient
Person who gets something

Reduce
Lower

Referral
Get a second opinion, ask or send information

Regimen
Plan, process

Regulation
Rule

Rehabilitate
Get better, recover

Respiratory
breathing; related to the nose, breathing tubes, and lungs

Response
What your body, people, groups, or organizations do after something else happens

Rigorous
Hard

Risk
Chance, reason for a health problem

Risk assessment
Quiz, to find out chances of having a health problem

Risk factor
More likely or increases the chances of getting sick, hurt or dying

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S

Sanitary
Germ free, clean

Sanitize
Clean

Screen, Screening
Testing, checking

Sector
Community, neighborhood, county

Seek
Get, ask for, see

Sensation
Feeling

Severe
Strong, very bad

Superficial
Not harmful, not serious

Supplement
Add to, in addition to, vitamins, additional

Surveillance
Getting information together, collecting information

Sustain
Keep going over time, support

Symptom
Signs, a change (e.g., a change in tiredness), how you are feeling, a feeling that isn’t normal

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T

Tablet
Pill, medicine (*when not referring to electronic tablet)

Terminal
Deadly, end of life

Terminate
End, stop

Toxin
Poison

Transmit
Give, spread

Treatment
Medicine, action, program, help

Tremor
Shake, Shaking

Trigger
Bring on, cause

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U

Ulcer
Open sore

Unforeseen
Not expected, surprise

Urgent
Needs attention soon

Utilize
Make use of

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V

Vaccinate
To protect against disease, get a shot

Vaccine
A shot to protect people against a disease

Vague
not clear, unclear

Valid
Good, good for, lasts, true

Variant
A change in a virus/germ that can make is spread faster and easier

Verify
Find out, confirm, double-check

Virus
Germ, illness, sickness

Voluntary
Your choice, you choose, choice, optional, not forced

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W

Warning sign
Sign of trouble

Withhold
Keep from

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X

X-ray
A picture of the bones and other parts inside of the body

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Z

Zoonotic
A disease that can spread from animals to people and then from person to person

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Resources

CDC’s Everyday Words for Public Health Communication
CDC’s Plain Language Thesaurus for Health Communications
Oregon Health Authority’s Public Health Terminology PDF