What are the 5 daily living activities?

Getting out of bed, brushing teeth, showering, getting dressed… While some people might not give a second thought to such routines, over 1 million people in the United States over the age of 50 require assistance performing these activities, according to AARP. 

Considering over 8 million adults in the United States are estimated to be caregivers to adult friends or family members, it pays to know a bit more about these activities of daily living (and whether or not your loved ones require assistance with them).

Activities of daily living (ADLs), as the name implies, are activities necessary for maintaining an independent lifestyle with a high quality of life. Most younger people are perfectly capable of performing these activities on their own. Those with disabilities or older adults may have a harder time completing ADLs independently, though.

While the exact number of ADLs varies based on who you ask, most authorities list six basic activities of daily living.

What are the 6 Basic ADLs?

The six basic ADLs, or physical ADLs that concern one’s basic physical needs, are:

1. Ambulating or functional mobility: To move about freely and safely.
2. Feeding: To feed oneself.
3. Dressing: To assemble an outfit and put clothes on properly.
4. Personal hygiene: To manage aspects of personal hygiene, such as bathing, grooming, and brushing teeth.
5. Continence: To control both bladder and bowel movements.
6. Toileting: To get to and from the restroom, use the restroom properly, and clean the self properly.

While basic ADLs concern physical tasks, instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) concern activities that require higher order, complex thinking. Like ADLs, the number of IADLs varies based on who you ask, with many experts listing between seven to twelve.

What are the 12 Instrumental Activities of Daily Living?

The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) recognizes the following twelve IADLs:

1. Care of others
2. Care of pets
3. Child rearing
4. Communication management
5. Community mobility
6. Financial management
7. Health management and maintenance
8. Home establishment and maintenance
9. Meal preparation and cleanup
10. Religious observances
11. Safety procedures and emergency responses
12. Shopping

Activities of Daily Living Checklist

Care needs vary by individual, and some geriatric patients will require greater care assistance than others on a daily basis. Are you considering whether an aging loved one can no longer live alone or otherwise requires the help of healthcare professionals in his or her day-to-day activities?

If so, you should take a look at these activities of daily living checklist, created by Caring for Your Parents (a Kirk Documentary Group, Ltd., Production for WGBH Boston) as a printable PDF. This worksheet can help you better determine the level of assistance your loved one needs.

Other ADL Assessments

Of course, the PBS checklist is just one way to measure how much help your friend or family member needs with activities of daily living. Other ADL / IADL metrics include the following:

Why Should You Care About ADLs and IADLs?

Determining how much help your love one needs isn’t necessary just for determining proper eldercare. It’s also incredibly important for determining how much financial support your loved one is eligible for from programs like Medicare or Medicaid. Most insurance companies classify nursing homes and other types of assisted living communities as long-term care or custodial care.

Unfortunately, Medicare typically does not cover long-term care services. However, older people may still qualify for certain Medicare benefits if they cannot perform a certain number of ADLs on their own.

Either way, it’s advisable for the person requiring assistance to have a long-term care insurance policy in order to cover the greater costs associated with long-term care.

Does Your Loved One Need Help with ADLs or IADLs?

While many older adults crave the freedom that comes with independent living, the reality is that sometimes aging loved ones require some level of assistance on a daily basis. Impairment of ability to perform basic self-care activities like feeding oneself not only decreases quality of life, but also the safety of the individual. Familiarizing yourself with local Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) — which are organizations that can address regional eldercare concerns — will help you better understand what options are available in your community.

We know you want only the best for your loved one. That’s why talking to a healthcare provider or even AAAs about ADLs can help you ensure your loved one experiences a higher quality of life.

Want to learn more about how a Frontier Community can help you or your loved one – look for a community near you.

The Instrumental Activities Of Daily Living, or ADL’s, are self-care activities everyone must perform to lead a normal, independent life. Here’s a handy checklist of daily activities for you to refer to. When deciding whether or not your loved-one needs assistance (be it an in-home health aide, or moving into an assisted living facility) we recommend you assess their ability to perform the following 6 ADL’s:

Eating: Can your loved-one feed themselves? Please note that this ADL refers to feeding themselves specifically; if your loved-one cannot prepare meals but can still feed themselves then they pass this ADL. Common eating complications are a physical inability to swallow, difficulty chewing food, and trouble moving food from the plate to the mouth.

Bathing & Hygiene: When you visit, is your loved-one clean? Do they bathe themselves on a regular basis? Do they maintain good dental hygiene? Notable queues that your loved one cannot maintain healthy hygiene practices are greasy skin, unkempt hair, long and dirty fingernails, or a foul body odor.

Dressing: Can your loved one physically dress themselves? If so, have they retained the ability to make acceptable clothing decisions? Due to a limited range of mobility, your loved-one may experience a particular difficulty with dressing their lower region (such as socks, underwear, and pants) or their upper region (such as shirts and coats). Your loved-one may also experience pain when straining for lower-extremity or upper-extremity dressing. Dramatically mismatched outfits, inappropriate clothing choices (such as nightgowns or pajamas in public), or wearing underwear overtop clothes, are also signs your loved-one can no longer dress themselves.

Grooming: Does your loved-one comb their hair? Does your loved-one keep their toenails and fingernails filed and tidy? Is their makeup properly applied (and properly removed), or is their facial hair properly maintained?

Mobility: Mobility is often judged on whether or not your loved one can move around without the assistance of a walker, wheelchair, or cane. Mobility also applies to your loved-one’s ability to successfully get out of bed, get onto and off-of the toilet, ascend and descend stairs, as well as sitting and rising from the couch or other furniture.

Toileting & Continence: This category considers both bowel and bladder management. Can your loved-one successfully use the restroom without assistance? Are they physically capable?

Why Use Instrumental Activities Of Daily Living When Assessing Your Loved-One’s Needs?

The six instrumental Activities of Daily Living that we’ve listed are the most basic activities that a person must perform on a daily basis. When your loved-one loses the ability to perform one or more of these activities they will experience a sharp decline in quality of life. Do not leave your loved-one stranded in bed, starved, or vulnerable to infections because of poor hygiene. Your loved-one should not be left alone to struggle with basic necessities–preserve their dignity, and their quality of life, by pursuing help.

The six ADL’s establish a very real idea of the obstacles your loved-one is facing. These ADL’s are such an accurate determiner of necessary living assistance that they are used by a variety of organizations to judge needed services. State non-Medicaid programs recognize the inability to perform two to three ADL’s as eligibility for assistance. Long-term Care Insurance may use the inability to perform ADL’s as an indicator to pay-out on a policy. Even Medicare PACE Programs that provide elderly care use ADL’s as a determining factor.

What To Do If You Notice Your Loved-One’s Condition Declining

If your loved-one is having difficulty with one or more ADL then it is time to think about pursuing assistance. Depending on the extent of their inability, you may need to provide in-home care assistance or you may need to move them to an assisted living facility.