What to Know About ADLs and IADLS

If you spend time in a healthcare facility, you may hear the term "ADL" used by staff. ADL is medical shorthand for "Activities of Daily Living." Learning this shorthand and what it entails can help you advocate that your basic needs are addressed in a medical situation.

By definition, ADLs are the essential tasks that each person needs to perform, on a regular basis, to sustain basic survival and well-being. The term helps healthcare professionals quickly communicate the level of assistance an individual might need or how their health is impacting their day-to-day life.

9 activities of daily living

Defining the 9 ADLs

One standard for defining the areas of Activities of Daily Living is the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework, which defines ADLs as "activities that are oriented toward taking care of your own body." The activities are broken down into nine areas.

Some administrators narrow the essential living needs into six broader categories referred to as basic Activities for Daily Living (bADL):

What Are IADLS?

You may look at the list about and think that even if you could safely do those nine items, there are still quite a few things that contribute to your quality of life. Don't worry, there is an extension to the list.

Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLS) refer to activities that support daily life and are oriented toward interacting with your environment. IADLs are typically more complex than ADLs. They are important components of home and community life but can be easily delegated to another person.

There is also an extension to the extension. The Occupational Therapy Practice Framework also refers to the below areas of activity, which are sometimes included in ADL and IADLS lists.

ADLs vs. IADLs

ADLs are the basic things you need to do to survive and be well. IADLs are the things you can do to enhance your personal interactions and/or environment.

ADLs in Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapists assist their clients in engaging in meaningful and purposeful daily tasks. For many occupational therapists, helping their clients perform ADLs are the "bread and butter" of their services.

ADLs can be an important factor in medical decision-making. Here are some examples:

An occupational therapist will often take the lead in assessing your ability to perform ADLs and work with you and your healthcare team to ensure that these basic needs are met.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does ADL stand for? What does IADL stand for? What are ADLs and IADLs used for?

An assessment of ADLs and IADLs are used to determine if it is safe for a person to live independently and what, if any, supports should be provided. They are also used to assess if more intervention is needed for chronic pain or other medical conditions. An improvement in ADLs and IADLs can suggest a treatment is working.

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

  1. Edemekong PF, Bomgaars DL, Sukumaran S, et al. Activities of Daily Living. StatPearls, 2022.
  2. American Occupational Therapy Association. Table 1. Occupations.
  3. North Carolina Assisted Living Association. Tools to Help Evaluate and Select an Assisted Living Residence.
  4. Mlinac ME, Feng MC. Assessment of activities of daily living, self-care, and independence. Arch Clin Neuropsychol. 2016;31(6):506-516. doi:10.1093/arclin/acw049
Additional Reading

By Sarah Lyon, OTR/L
Sarah Lyon, OTR/L, is a board-certified occupational therapist and founder of OT Potential.

Share Feedback Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! What is your feedback? Other Helpful Report an Error Related Articles

Occupational therapist works with a woman

Occupational Therapy vs. Speech Therapy: Uses, Benefits, and More

Occupational therapist helping a man walking on bars

The ABC's of OT Specialty Certifications and Credentials

patient and occupational therapist smiling at each other

Questions to Ask Your Occupational Therapist

Pink Paxil pills spilling out of an open bottle lying on its side

Paxil vs. Lexapro: How Do They Compare?

Woman getting head massage

Craniosacral Therapy: More Than a Head Massage

Occupational theraist and patient

Occupational Therapy Abbreviations and Jargon

Basket of medications including prednisone

Ulcerative Colitis Medication Options: A Pharmacist Explains

How Occupational Therapists Can Improve Your Life With Yoga

disabled man recording music

Stay Independent With These Assistive Technologies

Turkey Tail Mushroom benefits and nutrition information overlaid an image of turkey tail

10 Potential Benefits of Turkey Tail Mushroom

Automated blood sample testing in laboratory for healthcare screening.

What Your CBC Blood Test Results Say About Your Health

Ganoderma coffee

What Is Ganoderma Coffee?

Young adult taking a supplement pill at home

Supplements for Liver Health: Do They Work?

man checking pill bottles

Benefits of Hydrolyzed Collagen and How to Use It

man in hospital gown holding urine sample

Urosepsis and Its Symptoms, Treatment, and More

Appetite concept; portrait of young woman biting into a hamburger

Appetite, Food, and Hunger: Understanding Motivations

Verywell Health's content is for informational and educational purposes only. Our website is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Ⓒ 2024 Dotdash Media, Inc. — All rights reserved Verywell Health is part of the Dotdash Meredith publishing family.

We Care About Your Privacy

We and our 100 partners store and/or access information on a device, such as unique IDs in cookies to process personal data. You may accept or manage your choices by clicking below, including your right to object where legitimate interest is used, or at any time in the privacy policy page. These choices will be signaled to our partners and will not affect browsing data.

We and our partners process data to provide:

Store and/or access information on a device. Use limited data to select advertising. Create profiles for personalised advertising. Use profiles to select personalised advertising. Create profiles to personalise content. Use profiles to select personalised content. Measure advertising performance. Measure content performance. Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources. Develop and improve services. Use limited data to select content. List of Partners (vendors)