Question

What’s the difference between scoring among ADLs and IADLs.?

Answer 1

Activities of Daily Living

Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) are activities in which people engage on a day-to-day basis. These are everyday personal care activities that are fundamental to caring for oneself and maintaining independence. These are the basic self-care tasks that we initially learn as very young children. They are sometimes referred to as “Basic Activities of Daily Living” They include

· Walking, or otherwise getting around the home or outside. The technical term for this is “ambulating.”

· Feeding, as in being able to get food from a plate into one’s mouth.

· Dressing and grooming, as in selecting clothes, putting them on, and adequately managing one’s personal appearance.

· Toileting, which means getting to and from the toilet, using it appropriately, and cleaning oneself.

· Bathing, which means washing one’s face and body in the bath or shower.

· Transferring, which means being able to move from one body position to another. This includes being able to move from a bed to a chair, or into a wheelchair. This can also include the ability to stand up from a bed or chair in order to grasp a walker or other assistive device.

Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs)

Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) are activities related to independent living and are valuable for evaluating persons with early-stage disease, both to assess the level of disease and to determine the person’s ability to care for himself or herself. These are the self-care tasks we usually learn as teenagers. They require more complex thinking skills, including organizational skills. They include:

· Managing finances, such as paying bills and managing financial assets, cash etc.

· Managing transportation, either via driving or by organizing other means of transport.

· Shopping and meal preparation. This covers everything required to get a meal on the table. It also covers shopping for clothing and other items required for daily life.

· Housecleaning and home maintenance. This means cleaning kitchens after eating, keeping one’s living space reasonably clean and tidy, and keeping up with home maintenance.

· Managing communication, such as the telephone and mail.

· Managing medications, which covers obtaining medications and taking them as directed.

Recognizing a person’s limitations is the first step in developing a care plan (or making a referral for care) to provide the appropriate type and level of assistance. Determining the type of ADL and IADL care the person is deprived of and also enables a clear idea of whether or not staying at home with care is an option

Scoring IADL and ADL

In order to access the IADL Carla Graf, MS, APRN, BC, University of California, San Francisco has formulated a scale called The Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) Scale. It is as follows (https://www.alz.org/media/Documents/lawton-brody-activities-daily-living-scale.pdf)

Similarly ADL can also BE scored used by the flowing table formulated by Jerome Yesavage

Jerome A. Yesavage, MD. http://www.stanford.edu/~yesavage/GDS.htm