ADLs vs IADLs: Why Are They Important?

When considering senior care options, it’s important to consider what your loved one can independently take care of compared to the areas where they could use support. Then, you can determine how best to support them.

Central to this discussion are activities of daily living (ADLs) and how well your loved one can carry them out. But did you know there are two types of ADLs, and they require differing forms of support? This article covers ADLs vs IADLs to help you identify the best ways to support your loved one while keeping them as independent as possible.

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Key Takeaways: ADLs vs. IADLs

• ADLs are basic self-care tasks (e.g., bathing, eating, dressing), while IADLs involve more complex daily responsibilities (e.g., managing finances, cooking, shopping).

• Both are important for evaluating a senior’s independence and determining appropriate care needs.

• Health conditions, aging, and cognitive decline can make these tasks more difficult over time.

• Support strategies like adaptive tools, home modifications, and professional assessments can help maintain independence.

• When more help is needed, CarePatrol can match you with care options tailored to your loved one’s specific ADL and IADL needs.

What Are ADLs?

ADLs stand for activities of daily living. They’re a common term in the senior care industry that refers to the basic tasks individuals carry out every day to take care of themselves or others.

Types of ADLs

The term ADLs includes a broad range of basic self-care tasks and key life tasks, such as:

• Eating
• Bathing
• Dressing
• Grooming

What Are IADLs? 

IADLs stand for instrumental activities of daily living. This term refers to more complex tasks that help support a person’s everyday life. Instrumental activities focus on interacting with the broader environment and helping people live independently within their greater community.

Types of IADLs

Examples of instrumental activities of daily living include:

• Financial preparations like paying bills or managing financial assets
• Meal preparation
• Medication management
• Transportation
• Grocery shopping

 

Main Differences

Both ADLs and IADLs are part of a person’s daily life and maintaining independence. They differ in that ADLs are essential for functional living, while IADLs focus on quality of life and community living.

Activities of daily living are about taking care of our own selves, including our bodies and basic needs. Instrumental activities of daily living are different, as they are more complex. They require higher cognition, reasoning, problem-solving, and safety awareness levels. Nonetheless, they are easily delegated to others, allowing older adults to continue living independently. 

On the other hand, when seniors can no longer carry out basic activities of daily living, they can no longer live entirely independently and require some form of care.

When a senior’s goal is maintaining independence, the priority is improving the basic ADLs. Then, IADLs give an area for supporting seniors more as needed.

The two types of daily living activities may focus on different aspects of the same basic task. For instance, cooking is an IADL, while eating the prepared meal is an ADL. Similarly, creating a strategy is instrumental, while following its steps could become an activity of daily living.

 

Why Are ADLs & IADLs Important? 

Both ADLs and IADLs are important for a senior to be independent safely. ADLs ensure the person has their basic needs met, while IADLs help a person stay connected, live life meaningfully, and support a higher quality of life.

 

What Challenges Get in the Way of Activities of Daily Living?

Both ADLs and IADLs can become more difficult for seniors to carry out as they age in general and if they develop various mental or physical health conditions. Various challenges can impact a person’s ability to perform both types of ADLs, especially as they age. These can include:

• Polypharmacy: This term refers to taking many medications co-currently, which may lead to interactions and side effects that affect a person’s ability to perform both fine and gross motor skills. For instance, a person may experience dizziness or neuropathy in their hands and feet, which can affect their motor skills. These impacts reduce the ability to effectively and safely perform ADLs.
  
  
• Chronic Illnesses or Conditions: Many chronic mental or physical conditions can get in the way of both types of ADLs. For instance, a person could have balance problems, fatigue, or respiratory concerns that make physical activities more difficult. Cognitive impairment and memory disorders make it difficult to follow multi-step directives and have safety awareness. Mental health concerns can affect seniors’ desire to take care of themselves. Arthritis or autoimmune conditions can affect a range of motion and thus the ability to perform ADLs.
  
  
• Aging: Even general mobility issues that come with aging can lead to chronic pain and reduced range of motion.

 

How to Approach Challenges with ADLs and IADLs

There are numerous ways to support seniors in carrying out their ADLs and IADLs. Some of these include:

• Providing Enough Time: As a caregiver, you’re living in a fast-paced world and have your own responsibilities to take care of. This means you may rush your loved one when they’re trying to carry out their activities of daily living. For instance, you may tell them to hurry up and get ready because you need to bring them to an appointment quickly. However, a senior may need more time bathing and dressing, and rushing may make the process more difficult. Allotting enough time and creating routines that give them the necessary time can help them have more independence.
  
  
• Setting Up Their Environment: You can make your loved one’s environment conducive to them taking care of themselves in an easier, safer way. This can mean decluttering to reduce falls, adding a chair to their bedroom as a safer place to sit for dressing than the bed, putting a chair and bars in the shower, and so on.
  
  
• Only Step in When Necessary: Family members and caregivers may help with everything, but this could reduce a senior’s independence. It can lead to learned helplessness, while the person could have carried out the task on their own. Instead, support them only as needed, allowing them the chance to do it themselves.
  
  
• Provide Assistive Equipment: Products and devices are available that could help your loved one carry out everyday tasks. For instance, you could get them a long-handled shoe horn to simplify putting on shoes and a Reacher device to grab items. Also, make the items they use on a daily basis accessible.
  
  
• Consider a Specialist: Specialists can help with problems that may be interfering with activities of daily living. For instance, occupational or physical therapists can assess independent living skills in the home and perform other assessments, and they may offer expert advice on tools, routines, and resources. A neurologist can test if the person is forgetting or asking the same questions, which could guide long-term planning and support. A cardiologist could help if the person is fatigued.
  
  
• Set Up Systems: Family caregivers can particularly help aging loved ones with IADLs by creating systems and strategies. For instance, you could provide checklists, reminder systems, and calendars for them to follow. This way, you take care of the tasks that require more cognitive functioning while providing them with the independence to carry out the rest.
  
  For safety, educate them on senior scams. For financial and healthcare decisions, have an elder law attorney and healthcare proxy in place. Also, come up with new ways for them to do activities that previously brought meaning to their life. As an example, if they frequent church and can no longer go, you could set up online or television church services as an alternative.
  
  
• Keep Them Active: Find ways to help your aging loved one stay active both physically and mentally. It’s important for them to keep moving, as a lack of movement can make it harder to carry out everyday tasks. In the same way, try to keep their mind active through mind games, reading, and social activities.

 

How to Assess ADLs and IADLs

It’s helpful to determine what your loved one is capable of and the areas where they may need some help. As family caregivers, you can start by observing your loved ones and staying connected to them. Pay attention to signs like poor personal hygiene, piles of bills, disorganization and unkempt clothing.

After you try to support them yourself through devices and strategies, the next step is to visit a primary care physician. This professional may provide referrals to specialists that can offer further assessments and resources.

There are also assessments you can find online or have your healthcare provider perform, which can help you better understand which activities your loved one can perform by themselves and which they need help with. 

These include:

• Katz Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living
• Lawton-Brody Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale
• Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)
• Boston Cognitive Assessment (BoCA)

Assessments are important, as individuals will differ in their capabilities. For instance, some seniors can handle paying bills while they have functional impairments, or vice versa.

 

Senior Care Options to Assist with ADLs and IADLs

As a family member, you may determine that your loved one could use assistance and that you could use support as the caregiver as well. There are care options to fit different needs, such as in-home care, memory care, assisted living communities, or skilled nursing facilities.

At CarePatrol, a local senior care advisor is ready to guide you to the best support for your needs. We’ll help match care options with the specific ADLs and IADLs your loved one finds challenging.