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If you or someone you love has recently gone into palliative treatment for a progressive ailment, you’ve probably heard the word “ADL” being thrown around by healthcare providers.
ADL is an abbreviation for activities of daily living. Coined in the 1950s by renowned physician and author Sidney Katz, the term denotes an individual’s ability to undertake daily self-care activities.
As hinted, “activities of daily living” are commonly used in hospices (hospitals for the terminally ill) to describe a patient’s ability to perform certain tasks required for daily self-care. You’ll also encounter the term in most other assisted-living facilities, including nursing and retirement homes.
In this article, we’ll highlight the top six activities of daily living that medical practitioners often use to gauge a patient’s physical capacity and independence.
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1. Ambulating
Ambulation refers to the ability to move without requiring any assistance. It’s one of the primary self-care activities among healthy folk.
If you’ve recently undergone a surgical operation or are suffering from a debilitating illness, you may lose your ambulation capabilities. Such incapacitation could be temporary or permanent, depending on the condition.
For instance, a terminally ill sarcoma patient may eventually be unable to walk as the cancer progressively eats into their bone tissues. That’s in contrast to a person who’s had their kneecap dislocated, who might only face a few hours of incapacitation.
There are several activities of daily living examples under ambulation. They include the ability to walk, stand, sit, lie down and/or get up crouch, squat, and climb up and/or down the stairs.
2. Feeding
Most people who’ve lost their ambulating capabilities may live on for years if they can fulfill all other activities of daily living. But without food, you can only last around three weeks before you give up the fight.
The average survival period shrinks further to 3 – 5 days without water.
However, when describing eating concerning ADL, the focus isn’t on food unavailability or acute inappetence. Rather, it refers to the capacity to properly and safely use cutlery to feed yourself.
The inability to execute eating as an activity of daily living can also occur when a person loses interest in food, as is often common with dementia patients.
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3. Toileting
The maxim ‘anything that goes in must come out’ holds true for eating. While you don’t eliminate all the food consumed as fecal matter, a considerable portion must eventually come through the other end.
Unfortunately, old age and certain chronic ailments can reduce toileting abilities. That’s especially true for diseases that cause or manifest in bowel or bladder incontinence.
Seniors are particularly affected by bladder incontinence, which refers to involuntary urine passage. Such people may benefit immensely from incontinence products, including wearables like adult diapers and penile sheaths.
Moreover, poor toileting habits can manifest in a person’s inability to properly clean themselves after using the bathroom. Again, dementia is a significant culprit.
4. Dressing
Does your aging or chronically ill relative require assistance putting on and taking off clothing?
If you answered yes to either question, it implies that the person doesn’t meet the required ADL standard for dressing.
Now, two categories of people may fall short of the ADL dressing standards.
The first group constitutes those unable to dress independently, often requiring assistance to put on and take off their clothes. In most cases, the inability to dress is because a person is recovering from an invasive medical operation and has been advised to limit movement.
The second group may be able to dress with minimal assistance. Such help is typically due to innovative garment designs like Snap-On/Snap-Off shirts.
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5. Grooming
Within the context of ADL, grooming relates to the activities aimed at improving a person’s hygiene and physical appearance. Some of these activities;
- Brushing or combing hair into the desired style
- Brushing teeth
- Washing the face using a face cleanser
- Applying a moisturizer, deodorant, or other makeup products
- Doing manicure and pedicure
- Inserting contact lenses
To improve personal care for people with reduced motor skills, you should consider incorporating certain grooming aids into their lifestyles.
Makeup products with non-slip handles can provide a secure grip, making them particularly useful for persons with reduced grooming abilities. There are also brush holders that take the hassles from shoe and tooth brushing.
6. Breathing
The five voluntary activities listed above constitute the most basic ADLs as were initially described by Sidney Katz. However, Katz’s original ADL standards have since been expanded to include additional involuntary and semi-voluntary activities, such as breathing.
It’s important to note that breathing isn’t 100% unconscious. While the activity is largely spontaneous, you can harness your breathing to enhance mental awareness.
Patients unable to meet the required ADL standards for breathing may require respiratory aids, such as inhalers and nebulizers.
For severe breathing challenges, a medical practitioner may recommend a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device or a bilevel positive airway pressure (BPAP) machine.
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Summary
Undertaking the above activities without requiring significant assistance usually denotes excellent physical health. However, it’s not necessarily indicative of a complete state of mental well-being; neither does it signal an improvement in a debilitating condition.
If you or someone dear has been undergoing treatment for a chronic ailment, a comprehensive medical assessment is necessary to earn a clean bill of health.
