Activities of Daily Living (ADLs)

Today we want to discuss Activities of Daily Living, more commonly referred to in the healthcare world as “ADLs.”  Changes in a person’s ability to handle ADLs independently can be a key indicator of a need for increased support or a change in living environment.

When folks talk about ADLs, they are generally referring to 2 different categories:  (1) Basic ADLs and (2) Instrumental ADLs.  Basic ADLs are limited to self-care tasks.  Instrumental ADLs (or “IADLs”) are less fundamental but still necessary for an individual to live independently in a community.

Basic ADLs include the following :

(1) Functional Mobility

(2) Bathing/showering

(3) Dressing

(4) Self-feeding (does not include cooking or chewing/swallowing)

(5) Personal hygiene/grooming

(6) Toileting

Independent ADLs include (but are not limited to) the following :

(1) Housework

(2) Cooking

(3) Taking medications

(4) Money management

(5) Grocery shopping

(6) Using the telephone

(7) Transportation

When a person’s ability to participate in ADLs begins to deteriorate, this can indicate that he or she needs more assistance throughout the day at home and maybe needs to consider an alternative living arrangement.  Noticing that your mother has more difficulty standing up from her chair, or is letting the dishes pile up, or is making more frequent errors balancing her checkbook or remembering to pay her bills, for example, can let you know the time may be right to start a conversation about planning to maximize your mother’s safety and quality of life as she continues to age.  Mom may need some extra help at home, or she may want to start thinking about the upside of moving into an independent or assisted living facility.

In my other life as a speech-language pathologist, I design almost all of my therapy goals to “maximize the patient’s ability to participate safely in ADLs.”  That’s really another way of saying “to improve the patient’s overall happiness or quality of life.”  From what I’ve learned from my nursing home patients, that is a huge component of aging well:  the more we can continue to engage in those daily activities in which we’ve always engaged, and the more safely we can do this, the happier we will be as we age.

So be on the lookout for changes in ADL participation by your loved ones.  Usually with just a little added support, they can resume ADL engagement as fully and in as fulfilling a way as possible.

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