In today’s episode, we are going to talk about and discuss “What are ADL’s (Activities of Daily Living) ?”
Some of you may already be familiar with the phrase ADL or ADL’s. The initials stand for Activity or Activities of Daily Living.
But, what does that mean?
The phrase or term ADL’s or Activities of Daily Living is used to describe the skills that are required to independently take care of yourself.
This includes:
Personal Hygiene – bathing/showering, grooming, nail care, and oral care.
Eating – the ability to feed oneself, though not necessarily the capability to prepare food.
Transferring and Mobility – being able to move oneself from a seated position to standing, being able to get in and out of bed, and the ability to walk independently from one location to another.
Maintaining Continence — which means the ability to both physically and mentally use the restroom by getting on and off of the toilet but also knowing when you need to use the restroom.
When you hear someone ask how a person does or is doing with their ADL’s these are what they are referring to and depending on how much help they are needing for one, two, or all of them can determine the amount of care they may need day-to-day.