ADLs stands for Activities of Daily Living, which are fundamental skills required to independently care for oneself. These activities include basic physical needs such as personal hygiene or grooming, dressing, toileting, transferring or ambulating, and eating. ADLs essentially indicate a persons ability to care for themselves without assistance. The inability to perform ADLs results in the dependence of other individuals and/or mechanical devices.
IADLs, or Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, are more complex activities related to the ability to live independently in the community. These activities include household chores like cleaning, gardening, and laundry, taking care of pets, caring for children, looking after others, including supervising caregivers, maintaining religious practices, hobbies, or other interests, and knowing safety procedures and emergency contacts and responses.
Assessing ADLs is important as they are predictors of admission to nursing homes, need for alternative living arrangements, hospitalization, and use of paid home care. A simple checklist is used to assess whether a person can perform ADLs independently, which comprises a score from 0 to 6. Activities that can be done alone are scored 1, whereas activities that required supervision, direction, or assistance are scored 0.
Difficulties with ADLs and IADLs often correspond to how much help, supervision, and hands-on care an older person needs. This can determine the cost of care at an assisted-living facility, whether someone is considered “safe” to live at home, or even whether a person is eligible for certain long-term care services.
