Based in Los Angeles, California, Jacob M. Graff is a distinguished leader in the healthcare industry with extensive experience bordering all aspects of facility development and administration, ranging from property acquisition to providing quality subacute health care. Jacob Graff is the CEO of an eldercare company, where he supervises the acquisition and management of eldercare plus assisted living complexes.
Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) are two activities that every adult handles daily. Being able to accomplish these tasks without help from others is part of what makes a person independent. Aging impairs ADL and IADL functions; thus, it’s an essential aspect of geriatric care to know what aspect of each area a senior needs help with.
ADL, sometimes called basic activities of daily living, refers to the self-care skills a person learns from the early years of their lives (before adolescence). These include tasks like dressing and grooming, feeding, walking, bathing, and toileting. ADL essentially encompasses physical tasks that are crucial to survival. Transferring, the act of changing body positions or moving from one place to another within a space, is also a primary activity of daily living.
On the other hand, Instrumental Activities of Daily Living are essentially tasks that require more cognitive capacity and reasoning in addition to their physical functions. They include tasks like financial management, home maintenance, medication management, meal preparation, and shopping. These skills are often acquired when a person is a teenager since this is the period of their life when they gradually develop complex thinking skills.
Professionals in the geriatrics field often use ADL and IADL to assess the level of dependency of seniors and the appropriate care they need to meet acceptable standards of living. Sometimes, impairments of ADL and IADL functions can indicate physical and/or cognitive health impairments and also guide treatment.
Jacob Graff 