Activities of daily living (ADL) refer to routine activities that people do daily without assistance. The basic ADLs are eating, bathing, dressing, toileting, mobility, and continence. According to the statistics, half of Americans at the age of the 65 will enter a care facility due to inability to perform specific ADLs. Preforming ADLs means living independently, as social workers and doctors use the ability to perform all ADLs to determine if a person requires assisted living (Graf, 2008). Moreover, ADLs are vital as it affects the ability of a person to prepare his or her meals, shop, take medication, or use public transportation.
Eating is perhaps one of the most and basic ADL. As people age, they might lose this ADL due to the various conditions such as the inability to swallow, chew food, and trouble moving food from the plate to the mouth. Sometimes, older people can eat, but cannot prepare menus, and that qualifies as eating ADL as well. When a person cannot eat, they might suffer from malnutrition, and in some cases, death is the only result.
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Bathing is necessary for maintaining proper hygiene. The proper hygiene practices for healthy people without this ADL is the bathing the skin with water and soap to remove grease, comb the hair, and trim fingernails (Chou, Hwang & Wu, 2012). Inability to maintain proper hygiene leads to foul body odor and a generally unkempt appearance. Lack of appropriate hygiene affects social relations with friends and relatives and the society, without which isolation is the only outcome.
As people age and their mobility get limited, the dressing becomes problematic. The issues related to this ADL are the inability to make clothing decisions and difficulties in clothing their lower regions such as pants, underwear, or socks. Some are also unable to cover the upper part with shirts or coats as well (Boyd et al. 2008). The reason for the problem is a pain when straining to clothe the extreme regions. Also, some people find it challenging to dress appropriately by mismatching outfits, inappropriate clothing such as wearing pajamas or nightdresses in public. They might even wear pants or overtop clothes. Again, the implication of this ADL is ruining social relations.
Mobility is judged by the ability to move around without the assistance of a walker, wheelchair, or a cane. This ADL is critical for daily living and doing basic things such as cooking, eating, shopping, and other activities. Without it, the result is, the person might have trouble moving around the houses, ascending or descending stairs, working, etc. (Millán-Calenti et al. 2010).
Toileting and continence consider bowel and bladder management. People who have lost this ADL cannot use the restroom without assistance. In some cases, it is not even physically possible to pass bowel or relive bladder, and such cases require medical intervention.
A person who needs assistance with ADLs can opt for assisted living in nursing or home care. However, before making a decision, it is essential to talk with family members for their consent and approval. In some extreme cases, the members of the family do not need permission to transition them to a nursing home where they can get the kind of care they need (Jefferson et al. 2008). Another option is the hiring of home health workers to provide ADL assistance if the person resides at home. Such help might be needed to help with shopping or assisting in taking medication.
References
Boyd, C. M., Landefeld, C. S., Counsell, S. R., Palmer, R. M., Fortinsky, R. H., Kresevic, D., . . . Covinsky, K. E. (2008). Recovery of Activities of Daily Living in Older Adults After Hospitalization for Acute Medical Illness. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 56 (12), 2171-2179. doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2008.02023.x
Chou, C., Hwang, C., & Wu, Y. (2012). Effect of Exercise on Physical Function, Daily Living Activities, and Quality of Life in the Frail Older Adults: A Meta-Analysis. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 93 (2), 237-244. doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2011.08.042
Graf, C. (2008). The Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale. AJN, American Journal of Nursing, 108 (4), 52-62. doi:10.1097/01.naj.0000314810.46029.74
Jefferson, A. L., Byerly, L. K., Vanderhill, S., Lambe, S., Wong, S., Ozonoff, A., & Karlawish, J. H. (2008). Characterization of Activities of Daily Living in Individuals With Mild Cognitive Impairment. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 16 (5), 375-383. doi:10.1097/jgp.0b013e318162f197
Millán-Calenti, J. C., Tubío, J., Pita-Fernández, S., González-Abraldes, I., Lorenzo, T., Fernández-Arruty, T., & Maseda, A. (2010). Prevalence of functional disability in activities of daily living (ADL), instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) and associated factors, as predictors of morbidity and mortality. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 50 (3), 306-310. doi:10.1016/j.archger.2009.04.017
