Lookout: Glossary of terms

When designing Lookout, we spent time listening to the people who use home care services. One thing we heard clearly was that traditional, clinical language can feel impersonal - so we've chosen words that feel more human, more supportive, and easier to connect with. Understanding these core terms will help you get the most out of Lookout. 

Quick Reference Terminology chart

People & Roles

Member

Also known as: client, customer, participant. The individual receiving care or services.

Helper

Also known as: care worker, support worker, clinician, third-party provider. A person providing care or support to a Member. Helpers can be employees or subcontractors, and are verified for their suitability as carers. Where a Helper is subcontracted, they pay a Platform Fee - a percentage of each service they provide - for access to the platform.

Staffer / Staff Member

Your admin staff - the people with access to the Lookout admin interface, covering areas such as rostering, care management, and finance.

Care Manager

An admin user who assesses people's needs, creates Help Plans, and coordinates the care and services a Member receives. Care Managers oversee geographic regions with a number of Members and Helpers, and are the primary contact for Members and Authorised Representatives once services have commenced.

Authorised Representative (AR)

The nominated person who can manage services on a Member's behalf, with full access to the Member's account — often a key family member or primary carer. There can only be one Authorised Representative. Not every Member has one, and an AR can be nominated even if the Member manages their own services. (If someone only needs to see limited details, such as the schedule, add them as a Sharer instead.)

Primary Contact

Either the Authorised Representative or the Member, nominated as the main person to speak with about the Member's care and support. There can only be one Primary Contact.

Sharer

Someone a Member or Authorised Representative wants to be able to see the Member's schedule. Sharers cannot see contact or financial information and cannot make changes to services — only the Member or Authorised Representative can do that.

Funder

The entity that pays for a Member's membership fees and services. Funders can be private individuals or organisations managing the Member's government package.

Billing Recipient

The person or people who receive weekly statement emails and act as the point of contact if there's a payment issue. Members and Authorised Representatives don't receive these emails automatically - they must be listed as a Billing Recipient (though they can always view statements in the app). There can be more than one, often the Member and the Authorised Representative.

Profile

A record of information about a person or entity. Members, Helpers, suppliers, and clinicians each have their own profile in Lookout.

Role

Determines a person's or entity's purpose in relation to a Member - for example, Authorised Representative, emergency contact, Sharer, or Funder. A single person can hold more than one role.

Ways of grouping

Community

A way to group Members, Helpers, and Staffers together in meaningful ways; for example, by region or team. Communities help determine who has access to whom.

Cohort

A grouping of Members with similar care needs or risks, brought together so they can receive the right level of care and be managed consistently.

Care & planning

Help Plan / Care Plan

Also known as: support plan. The document recording what a Member and their Authorised Representative discussed and agreed during assessments and reviews — including their strengths, difficulties, goals, what they'd like to achieve, and their preferences for services.

Observation

An alert that highlights a concern raised about a Member's well-being, which may need investigation. Observations can be created automatically - drawn from Helpers' check-out notes, or manually by anyone in the care team.

Services, scheduling & Finance

Contract

The service agreement directly between a Helper and a Member. Each Helper providing services must have a contract in place before they can be scheduled. The contract sets out the terms of service, along with the products and prices provided.

Product

An item on a Helper's price list. Products define what a Helper provides and how much it costs per unit - for example, per hour or per day.

Verification

A credential a Helper holds to confirm their suitability (such as a qualification or clearance). Helpers can have many verifications, and the available verifications and their requirements are set at a company level.

Requisite

A Member's mirror to verifications - the credentials a Member requires their Helper to hold. If a Helper doesn't meet a Member's requisites, Lookout shows a warning when you try to create a contract or schedule that Helper.

Billing Run

The weekly process that generates the visits, fees, and invoices for Members and Helpers.

Getting work done

Ticket

An admin feature for collaborating, sharing information, and tracking progress on key tasks. Tickets are the vessel that captures your workflows and business processes.

Ticket Inbox

Your central hub for managing tickets - a big part of the day-to-day work in Lookout.

Home Dashboard

The page you land on when you first log in. It's your starting point for the day: a quick, clear snapshot of what needs your attention across the Members and Helpers in your communities.