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What are the Basic Activities of Daily Living?

It is morning. You get up, sit and throw your foot over the edge of your bed. Then you stand, walk to the bathroom, brush your teeth, and shower.  Refreshed after the bath, you sit and plan a menu, shop for the food items, prepare a meal and eat. After the meal, you wash the utensils and clean the kitchen. These are what are called activities of daily living (ADLs).

What is meant by the term “activities of daily living” (ADL)?

They are basic self-care tasks that an individual does on a day-to-day basis, which are fundamental in caring for oneself and maintaining independence. The tasks are commonly completed by most people habitually or repeatedly at regular intervals, often serving as a prerequisite for other activities. There are two categories of activities of daily living—basic activities of daily living (BADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). 

Basic activities of daily living (BADLs) are both essential and routine aspects of self-care, such as eating, dressing, walking, bathing, toileting, transferring from one position to another, and maintaining bowel and bladder continence. Independent adults are able to perform BADLs and normally live without assistance from outside caregivers or significant others. But when circumstances change and a person is rendered incapable of accomplishing BADLs, this may lead to unsafe conditions and poor quality of life which typically serve as criteria for considering home care assistance, physical therapy, skilled care, placement in assisted living, or long-term care.

Instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) are more complex activities such as cooking, housekeeping, shopping, managing money, managing medicine, and using the telephone.

Which activities are classified as basic activities of daily living (BADLs)?

Basic activities of daily living are activities that people engage in when they get up in the morning, prepare to leave their home, and otherwise do frequently during a normal day. The ability or inability to perform these activities act as a measure of the individual’s functional status and independence, particularly in older adults and those with disabilities. In fact, as a person ages, BADLs gradually become more difficult to perform independently and increasingly take more time to complete. Likewise, health issues such as stroke and accidents also affect the ability to accomplish BADLs, sometimes significantly.

Activities classified as BADLs are:

Personal Hygiene - bathing (showering), grooming, oral care, and nail care.

Dressing - the ability to make the right clothing decisions and physically dress and undress oneself.

Eating - the ability to feed oneself, though not necessarily the capacity to prepare the food.

Maintaining Continence - both the physical and mental capacity to use a restroom, including the ability to get on and off the toilet, control bowel and bladder functions, and clean oneself.

Mobility (transferring) - moving oneself from a seated to standing position, get in and out of bed, and the capacity to walk independently from one location to another.

How are basic activities of daily living useful in caring for patients?

Evaluating BADLs is a critical component of healthcare, especially in nursing, occupational therapy and physical therapy as it helps to assess the functionality of patients. In fact, even during discharge of patients from the hospital, the inability to perform BADLs usually indicates the need for further rehabilitation or assistance at home. For instance, inability to toilet or dress is an indicator of poor quality of life, difficulty to ambulate or transfer is an indicator of potential falls and further decline, while inability to eat independently indicates possible poor nutrition, dehydration and further weakness.

BADLs are an assessment tool for physical function and independence, which is invaluable when discussing care goals with care givers, physical therapists and medical professionals. Usually, the first sign of diminished functionality is a reduced or lack of ability to accomplish BADLs such as feeding, grooming, bathing, walking, dressing, toileting, and transfer from bed to a wheelchair or walking. For instance, in people who are 65 years or older, diminished ability to accomplish basic self-care activities is a criteria for placement skilled or long-term care facilities. That is, BADLs help to determine whether an individual needs physical therapy, how frequent the therapy should be given and the medical equipment that may be required, such as oxygen, walkers or wheelchairs. 

What is the role of physical therapy in patients with problems performing BADLs?

The decline or impairment of physical function indicated by compromised ability to perform BADLs may arise from a variety of conditions. Most commonly, conditions that lead to impairment in BADLs include musculoskeletal, circulatory, cognitive, mental, neurological, or sensory conditions. In such patients, measuring BADLs helps to determine the level of assistance required and acts as a metric for the variety of services and programs necessary for effective care.

The role of physical therapy and orthopedic rehabilitation is to teach and rebuild the skills required to regain, maintain or increase the patient’s independence in performing all the BADLs that have declined. Physical therapy uses exercise to assist patients to regain independence in BADLs that have been lost through health conditions, injury or age-related disability. The exercise programs are tailored to include the components the patients are lacking, such as walking speed, coordination, strength or balance. For example, since slow walking speed is associated with increased risk of falls, walking speed exercises are prescribed to achieve a safer and more functional ambulation.

After a therapeutic exercise program is initiated, it is necessary to maintain the routine so that the benefits are not lost. In patients who are frail, the therapeutic exercise routine has to be sustained in order to preserve functional independence and avoid the necessity for care from others or being placed in a long-term care facility.

At FYZICAL Lakewood Ranch, we offer physical therapy and orthopedic rehabilitation services to improve mobility, strength, endurance, balance and coordination, always with the goal of achieving independence of our patients. Through our experienced, compassionate, ethical, professional, efficient and reliable team, we deliver individualized treatment programs for pain management, post-surgical healing, mobility issues and restoration of function. We are skilled in assessing and using BADLs as an indicator for the type and scope of physical therapy to provide to our patients. For more information on physical therapy topics, tips and services, visit our website or a FYZICAL location near you.


This material is presented for informational and educational purposes only. This information does not constitute medical advice and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice. You should always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health care provider before beginning any exercise program. If you experience any pain or difficulty with these exercises, stop and consult your health care provider. FYZICAL MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, THAT THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THESE MATERIALS WILL MEET YOUR NEEDS.