Planning for an elderly loved one’s future is vital and best done in the early stages of aging. Senior home care is preferred by many older adults and their families when signs that extra support is needed become apparent, like when the senior has trouble completing the ADLs and IADLs.
Functioning in daily life requires a certain skill set. Providing optimal self-care and regularly maintaining the home allow an individual to remain independent. But as people age, their ability to take care of themselves and their home environment becomes increasingly challenging.
What are the ADLs and IADLs?
The basic skills needed to live independently at home are divided into two categories: activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). Competence in the former allows for proper self-care, while the latter allows seniors to manage complex matters.
The ADLs include six essential life skills: having the ability to bathe, controlling bladder and bowel movements, using the toilet independently, dressing appropriately for the weather, being able to walk from one location to another, and chewing and swallowing food.
The IADLs also involve care activities but require greater thinking and organizational skills. IADLs include the ability to clean the home, handle finances, manage medications, prepare nutritious meals, shop for necessities, use a phone or other communication devices, and access transportation.
What causes a decline in ADL functioning?
As seniors advance in years, they may experience a decline in their abilities to perform the ADLs and IADLs. A range of health conditions, like musculoskeletal issues, neurological problems, circulatory ailments, and sensory system problems can reduce a senior’s ability to complete daily tasks.
Self-care activities can also become more difficult as a result of side effects from the senior’s prescription medications, unwanted social isolation and unaddressed aspects of the home, such as stairs in front of the door instead of a ramp for seniors who use a wheelchair.
How do families assess ADLs and IADLs?
People who live nearby or who frequently visit the senior often have more information than families that live in another town. Ask neighbors, friends and siblings if they notice changes in the senior’s abilities. Choose two or three trusted individuals to discuss concerns.
Older adults may be slower at completing tasks, but it doesn’t mean they are unable. It’s important to assess their abilities on a spectrum; rather than ask if they can or cannot perform a task, determine if the senior can do the activity a little bit, sometimes or often.
Tiredness accompanies aging, and some seniors exude greater energy and sharper cognitive abilities in the morning. When assessing ADLs and IADLs, consider the time of day and their level of fatigue. Seniors fighting a virus will naturally feel temporarily impaired in their functioning.
Concerns are valid when an older individual’s safety is at risk. Accidentally leaving the oven on after cooking or forgetting to close the front door after walking in should prompt a discussion from family members about hiring extra help at home.
What are signs of the need for senior care?
A visit with a healthcare provider can be revealing about the senior’s ability to complete the ADLs and IADLs. Medical professionals utilize tools, like The Katz Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living, to assess the patient’s level of competence. Points are assigned for each task performed.
At home, families, too, can assess the ADLs. Four points are given when the senior bathes independently, two to three points when assistance is needed and one point when full support is required. Continence is similarly assessed, ranging from self-control over bladder and bowel movements to complete incontinence.
Mobility is determined by whether the senior can climb stairs independently or with a walking aid or needs to operate a wheelchair. Transferring is likewise assessed. Feeding can be gauged when noticing the senior eats independently, needs partial assistance, or requires parenteral feeding.
How well a senior performs the IADLs can also be telling. Does the senior maintain the home without assistance, or is an acceptable level of cleanliness impossible without help? Some seniors are able to complete light household chores on their own, like making the bed or washing dishes.
Laundry, too, is assessed on a spectrum, ranging from washing and folding clothes independently to requiring help operating a washing machine and being unable to do laundry on their own at all. A senior who needs full assistance with meal prep and cooking is a candidate for home care.
If the senior can no longer manage finances, shop, or dispense medications on their own, senior care may be warranted. An older adult who drives his own car may not require senior care, but someone who is partially or fully reliant on others for transportation will benefit from senior care.
The lower the score, the higher the need for senior care. The ADLs require intensive, hands-on care, but the IADLs can be managed by other individuals or services, such as meal delivery services, housekeepers, or money management professionals. Home care agencies also provide vital elder care services.
How Assisting Hands Home Care Can Help
Assisting Hands Home Care is a reputable senior care agency staffed with professional caregivers who fulfill the care needs of older adults. Our non-medical care responsibilities include medication reminders, transportation to doctors’ offices, grocery shopping, and help with personal care tasks.
We provide comprehensive in-home care to promote the physical and emotional well-being of our elderly care recipients. In addition to providing hands-on care, our senior care specialists help families find guidance on estate planning, Medicare benefits, advanced directives, and reverse mortgages.
Our home care services are flexible and tailored to meet the unique care needs of seniors. We offer post-surgical care, respite care, live-in care, compassionate memory care, and assistance to seniors diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Transitional care/care coordination are also provided.
When an evaluation of the ADLs and IADLs suggests a need for extra support at home, choose Assisting Hands Home Care. We serve older adults living in Winter Park, Florida, and the surrounding communities. Call us today to schedule an in-home consult and start quality elder home care.