Activities of daily living

In plain English: activities of daily living, or ADLs, are the basic tasks of looking after yourself: washing, dressing, eating, using the toilet, and moving from bed to chair. Doctors and therapists use them to measure how an injury affects everyday life.

Basic and instrumental activities

Clinicians usually split them into two groups.

• Basic ADLs: bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, continence and transferring (getting in and out of bed or a chair).
• Instrumental ADLs: the tasks that let you live independently, such as cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping, managing money and medication, using the phone and getting to appointments.

Someone with a broken wrist might manage every basic ADL but struggle with cooking and cleaning. Someone with a serious spinal or brain injury may need help with both.

Why ADLs matter to your claim

Insurers and courts want to see how an injury changed your life, not just what the scan shows. ADL assessments put that into concrete terms. They affect:

• Pain and suffering. Losing independence is part of the harm.
• Care costs. Help from paid carers, or from family members, can often be claimed. In the UK, gratuitous care provided by relatives is a recognised head of loss.
• Housekeeping loss. Paying for cleaning, gardening or childcare you used to do yourself.
• No-fault benefits. In Ontario and other no-fault systems, attendant care and housekeeping benefits often depend on formal assessments of what you can and can't do.
• Future care. Long-term limits feed into estimates of future care and equipment costs.

How they're assessed

An occupational therapist usually does the assessment, often at your home. They watch you do tasks, ask how long they take and what help you need, and may recommend equipment such as grab rails, a shower seat or a perching stool. Their report carries weight because it's based on observation.

Keeping your own record

1. Note each task you can't do or need help with, and who helps.
2. Estimate how many hours a week family or friends spend helping you.
3. Keep receipts for paid help and equipment.
4. Record changes over time, both improvements and setbacks.

Next: occupational therapy · housekeeping loss · future care costs.

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