What are Activities of Daily Living? (ADLs)
The basic mechanics of caregiving are typically running errands, cooking, cleaning, taking care of the house, making medical appointments, sometimes asking questions and representing the person. Many things are situation dependent, for example, caregiving for someone with dementia can be very different from caring for someone who has an infection or a more time-limited issue, but most of the time you will be hitting on these things called ADLs, or activities of daily living.
- Bathing yourself
2. Dressing yourself
3. Eating on your own
4. Transferring/Moving on your own
5. Using the toilet
6. Controlling your bladder and bowls
Bathing
One of the great indignities that people with illness face, is that they end up sitting in their own filth. Bathing is a beloved basic fundamental human social engagement across time and cultures. It is also basic hygiene for us. It is not a small thing, it’s tending to the body, cleaning the body, and in that way, respecting and revering the body.
Dressing
Getting dressed is important as well. Think of these things beyond just function in qualitative terms. Imagine how you feel when you’ve got your best clothes and you’re showered and cleaned up. It puts you in a different state.
Eating
Also, don’t underestimate how eating, nutrition, having food prepared in the mouth, in the feeding tube, or in the vein of the person can have a profoundly healing effect. Let us step back for a moment and be aware of ourselves as caregivers and how we approach the topic of eating. Oftentimes people who are dealing with illness are not in a position to eat mechanically. Oftentimes their appetite is suffering, their sense of taste may be altered by chemotherapy, other therapies, or infection. So, while nutrients are considered fundamental to life it can be very distressing when the person we’re trying to care for can’t or won’t eat.
Moving/Transferring
Next, physically transferring a patient and moving well are where a lot of injuries happen in caregiving. Caregiving can be very physically taxing. This is where it can be very helpful to get training from a physical therapist. Moving or adjusting a patient is something to be careful of as caregivers because this is where so many injuries are sustained. Sometimes the situation may require getting durable medical equipment like a lift to help prevent injuries.
Toileting and Incontinence
Another basic essential of caregiving is assisting the patient with toileting or going to the bathroom. Toileting can be difficult because it often requires transferring someone. Transferring to either a bedside commode or to an inexpensive piece of durable medical equipment can take some getting used to but actually can be a wonderful thing when trying to get someone out of the bed. One way or another, you’re going to be helping to move someone, and that can be challenging.
Sometimes caregivers accidentally or subconsciously forget about the person’s need for toileting, especially if the person is not communicative. This is where people can live with days of constipation. That can be really upsetting to a patient physically. It can cause shortness of breath, pain, nausea, and delirium. This is something to really be mindful of so it doesn’t accidentally or casually get brushed aside. Related to this of course is incontinence, and helping someone deal with incontinence is very common, whether urinary or bowels.
That’s the “official” panoply of tasks. Important to note, sometimes caregiving happens in families, or circles of friends who are all on a team. Various people might take various responsibilities to help care for some folks. You might want to think through who gets which task. Sometimes caregiving is a management job; overseeing a lot of well-wishers you can put to use. ADL’s are a very significant part of the caregiving job and this helps to share the load.
