ADLs defined.

What is the meaning of ADLs? You might have heard the three letters “ADLs” used frequently when someone from the hospital is talking to you about how your loved one is doing in regards to his or her function. Those letters stand for Activities of Daily Living. There are two overall categories of ADLs--the Basic ADLs and the Instrumental ADLs. What exactly does that mean? The Basic ADLs are indicators of someone’s ability to be able to live independently. They are broken down into six components. Those include:

Six components of basic activities of daily living.

1. Eating: Can a person effectively bring food and drink to his mouth in order to provide appropriate nutrition and hydration?

2. Personal Hygiene and Bathing: Can a person get in and out of a bath or shower and wash herself in a reasonable manner? Can she groom herself, including managing her hair, teeth brushing, and nails? 

3. Dressing: Can a person gather his clothes and then dress himself appropriately? At the end of the day, can he then remove those articles of clothing? This includes managing buttons, fasteners, and zippers.

4. Toileting: Can a person transfer herself on and off of the commode in a timely and safe manner? Can she manage her lower body clothing to do so? And can she perform the necessary hygiene to avoid skin breakdown and infections after toileting?

5. Continence: Can a person maintain continence of both the bowel and the bladder?

6. Mobility: Can a person transfer herself into and out of a bed or in and out of a chair on her own? Is she able to move throughout a household distance with walking (with or without an assistive device such as a walker) or using a wheelchair? 

If someone can do these above six without assistance, then that is a good indicator that she would be able to live in at least a somewhat independent setting.

The inability to perform these functions independently would likely lead to an unsafe living condition and a poor quality of life if she were to live alone without additional assistance. 

Instrumental activities of daily living.

The Instrumental ADLs is a much longer list. They cover the tasks that allow someone to live more independently in the community. Beyond just the physical aspects of one’s function, instrumental ADLs also require more complex thinking, such as thought organization, memory, and reasoning skills.

The list of instrumental ADLs includes obtaining groceries, meal preparation, medication management, managing of finances, maintaining household cleanliness and necessary maintenance, and driving. This is not a comprehensive list, but this is the gist of it. These are tasks that might require some assistance from someone else but, unlike the ADLs, do not necessarily determine if someone is capable of living in a more independent setting.

Please contact me or leave a comment if you have a specific question regarding ADLs.

© 2020 Jessica Kluetz, DO