Title: Activities of Daily Living (ADL): Definition, Assessment & Examples - Psychology Class [2021 Video] | Study.com
Headings: Activities of Daily Living (ADL): Definition, Assessment & Examples
Activities of Daily Living (ADL): Definition, Assessment & Examples
Lesson Transcript
Development of ADL
Types of ADLs
Reasons for Assessments
Register to view this lesson
Are you a student or a teacher?
Activities of Daily Living (ADL): Definition, Assessment & Examples
Start today. Try it now
Activities of Daily Living (ADL): Definition, Assessment & Examples
Related Study Materials

Content: Care agencies, rehabilitation, and care facilities use functional assessments to determine appropriate placement for patients. A functional assessment can also influence insurance coverage. For example, if the individual has long term care insurance, most companies require impairment in three or more BADLs before they will provide benefits, helping with the costs of care. Types of Assessments
Though severe losses of IADL skills and low-level loss of BADL skills are usually easily identified, even experienced health care providers are not always able to easily identify low or moderate levels of impairment of some ADLs during an office visit, so we use standardized assessment tools that are suitable for different types of clinical settings and for use by a wide variety of health care professionals. Some tools can also identify and track improvement or deterioration in these skill levels over time, which is particularly helpful for rehab patients, patients with chronic illnesses, and the elderly. Many functional assessment tools are available. Professionals select the tool that will yield the most useful results for their setting, the way they will use the results, and the type of clients they see. The Katz Index of Independence is most often used with older adults and is limited to BADL assessment using a simple point system. The Barthel Index is similar to the Katz; also used most often with older adults, it includes instructions on evaluating a patient's improvement over time.