diff --git a/content/docs/concepts/policies-and-telemetry/index.md b/content/docs/concepts/policies-and-telemetry/index.md
index f55a467534..3d335b383a 100644
--- a/content/docs/concepts/policies-and-telemetry/index.md
+++ b/content/docs/concepts/policies-and-telemetry/index.md
@@ -190,10 +190,10 @@ A given adapter may support any number of templates.
 
 Adapters encapsulate the logic necessary to interface Mixer with specific external infrastructure
 backends such as [Prometheus](https://prometheus.io) or [Stackdriver](https://cloud.google.com/logging).
-Individual adapters generally need operational parameters in order to do their work. For example, a logging adapter may require
-the IP address and port of the log collection backend.
+A _handler_ is a resource responsible for holding the configuration state needed by an adapter. For example, a
+logging adapter may require the IP address and port of the log collection backend.
 
-Here is an example showing how to configure an adapter of kind = `listchecker`. The `listchecker` adapter checks an input value against a list.
+Here is an example showing how to create a handler for an adapter of kind = `listchecker`. The `listchecker` adapter checks an input value against a list.
 If the adapter is configured for a whitelist, it returns success if the input value is found in the list.
 
 {{< text yaml >}}