Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) involve daily tasks, such as dressing and brushing teeth. These activities can be divided into various categories.
- Personal hygiene
- Dressing
- Eating
- Maintaining continence
- Transferring/mobility
These are all important abilities to maintain in order to take care of oneself and include being able to bathe/shower, groom, take care of nails and oral health, make appropriate clothing decisions and physically get dressed and undressed, feed oneself, use a restroom, stand from a sitting position, and walk independently.
Assessing a loved one’s ability to perform their Activities of Daily Living is a critical step in determining their “function” and level of independence.
Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL)
Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) are tasks related to independent living which can be used to assess a person’s ability to care for themselves.
Instrumental Activities of Daily Living include:
- Shopping
- Cooking
- Managing medications
- Using the telephone & looking up numbers
- Doing housework
- Doing laundry
- Driving or using public transportation
Recognizing a loved ones function and ability to live independently is the first step in developing a care plan to provide the appropriate type and level of assistance. Figuring out the type of activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) care required allows one to decide if home care is a viable option.
Schedule A Free Consultation with us to learn more about creating a care plan for your loved one and how RetireEase can help.
