ADL and IADL Physical Therapy Charleston, SC

+ What Are ADLs?

Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) refers to the essential and basic tasks that individuals perform on a routine basis to live comfortable and independent lives. These activities begin when a person gets up in the morning and continue regularly throughout the day without assistance. As a person ages, ADLs can require more time and effort. In addition to age, a person’s ability to perform these daily tasks can be hampered bysome health problems, such as:

• A stroke

• A fall

• Cognitive impairments

• Taking an exceedingly high number of medications

• Social isolation

+ Categories of ADLs

These are the six categories of basic or physical categories of skills necessary for a person to manage their physical needs:

• Dressing: selecting and retrieving the appropriate clothes from a closet or dresser and putting the clothes on properly

• Functional mobility: getting in and out of a chair and bed and moving from place to place during normal daily activities

• Personal hygiene: bathing, daily oral hygiene, hair, and nail care

• Feeding: the ability to feed oneself

• Toileting: getting on and off the toilet and sufficiently cleaning oneself

• Continence: this is the ability to control bladder and bowel function

+ Importance of ADLs

Quality of life depends significantly on the ability to care for oneself daily without dependence on others. A cycle of physical, mental, and emotional problems can occur with changes to a person’s ability to carry out their ADLs. When a person doesn’t receive needed help with ADLs, they can experience:

• Malnutrition

• Personal hygiene issues

• Physical and emotional isolation

• Illnesses such as urinary tract infections

• Falls

• Loss of personal dignity

+ What Are IADLs?

Activities that are not necessary for basic functioning but enable someone to live independently in the community are referred to as IADLs or Instrumental Activities of Daily Living. These are more complex than issues like personal hygiene and feeding oneself.

+ Categories of IADLs

IADLs, which require more thinking and organization skills, include the following activities:

• Shopping

• Meal preparation

• Managing finances

• Managing medications

• Home chores such as housecleaning and laundry

• Using the telephone and handling mail

• Managing needed transportation

+ How Physical Therapy Can Help with ADL and IADL Management

Mobility is a critical part of being able to carry out the activities of everyday life. The physical therapists at Coastal Movement Specialists are trained to help people avoid the challenges that lead to difficulties with ADL management. We create a personalized treatment plan of exercises and stretches to help prevent problems, such as:

• Pain

• Loss of endurance

• Difficulty keeping balance

• Loss of muscular strength

• Poor flexibility

• Trouble with walking

+ How Occupational Therapy Can Help with ADL and IADL Management

Our occupational therapists are medical specialists are trained to help people perform daily activities independently without pain or frustration. The process begins with assessing the ability to perform ADLs and IADLs before developing an optimal treatment plan. Then, our occupational therapists use various treatments to help our clients overcome impairments to their ADLs and live healthy and fulfilled lives.