Activities of daily living

Activities of daily living

Activities of daily living (ADLs) are the things we normally do in daily living including any daily activity we perform for self-care (such as feeding ourselves, bathing, dressing, grooming), work, homemaking, and leisure
Health professionals routinely refer to the ability or inability to perform ADLs as a measurement of the functional status of a person. This measurement is useful for assessing the elderly, the mentally ill, those with chronic diseases, and others, in order to evaluate what type of health care services an individual may need. There are several evaluation tools, such as the Katz ADL scale and the Lawton IADL scale
Most models of health care service use ADL evaluations in their practice, including the medical (or institutional) models, such as the Roper-Logan-Tierney model of nursing, and resident-centered models, such as the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly(PACE)In the US, most medical insurance policies will not cover assistance with performing ADLs, whereas such assistance is often covered by policies specific to long-term care
Basic ADLs
The basic activities of daily living consist of these self-care tasks

Bathing

Dressing and undressing

Eating


Transferring from bed to chair, and back

Voluntarily control urinary and fecal discharge

Using the toilet
Walking not bedridden

Instrumental ADLs

Instrumental activities of daily living are not necessary for fundamental functioning, but enable the individual to live independently within a community

Light housework

Preparing meals

Taking medications

Shopping for groceries or clothes

Using the telephone

Managing money

Occupational therapists also evaluate IADLs when completing patient assessments. These include 11 areas of IADLs that are generally optional in nature, and can be delegated to others
Care of others (including selecting and supervising caregivers

Care of pets

Child rearing

Communication device use

Community mobility


Financial management

Health management and maintenance

Meal preparation and cleanup

Safety procedures and emergency responses

Shopping




References

MedicineNet.com Medical Dictionary
"Activities of Daily Living Evaluation." Encyclopedia of Nursing & Allied Health. Ed. Kristine Krapp. Gale Group, Inc., 2002. eNotes.com. 2006.

Enotes Nursing EncyclopediaAccessed on: 11 Oct, 2007
McDowell, I., and Newell, C. (1996). Measuring Health: A Guide to Rating Scales and Questionnaires, 2nd edition. New York: Oxford University Press

Bookman, A., Harrington, M., Pass, L., & Reisner, E. (2007). Family Caregiver Handbook. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Occupational therapy practice framework: Domain and process. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 56, 609-637