IADLs

Iris L.

Instrumental Activities of Daily Living are intermediate level activities that we might learn in our adolescence to enable our independence.  

The IADLs are:

telephoning/texting/emailing

preparing meals 

marketing

driving or using a bus or taxi

doing laundry

cleaning, doing housework

paying bills and managing finances 

taking medications, handling medical appointments.

I add:

pet care

entertainment

There are charts that rate a person's ability to perform IADLs:

--can perform independently

--can perform with cueing or coaching 

--needs a lot of help 

--unable to perform at all

Often a caregiver will state that a LO is independent, but he really isn't, because the caregiver doesn't realize how much of the activity she is doing.  It can help to monitor the level of IADLs in order to predict how much assistance will be required.

Iris

Quilting brings calm

I had to answer questions on these regarding  my Step-dad at an evaluation.  It was difficult because he and my mom live in assisted living, and have for almost 3 years.  Some of these are done for them there.  I handle  their finances - mom did until she couldn’t.  Dad never has.  So it’s difficult to accurately respond to questions on these.

Iris L.

The reason they are in assisted living is because they are not independent in their IADLs.  So the answers would be "not able to perform at all" for many categories, or needs a lot of help.  In any case, the questions are simply a means of determining how much care is needed.  If too little or too much care is given, it is easy to reassess.

Iris

Michael Ellenbogen

This is just part of a speech I gave yesterday. I did this because much of the confusion around ADLs 

 

Example 3 – After the change from DSM-IV to the DSM-5 many of the people I know who had some form of dementia were reclassified to MCI.  This had a major impact to them being able to obtain the services they were entitled to. I can assure you these folks are in bad shape and cannot even understand how a doctor could not see it.   I am not sure if this is the only thing creating this issue.

 

 These are direct quotes form a neurological doctor’s who also performs clinical trials. “They changed it from dementia to major neurocognitive disorder.  MCI was minor neurocog disorder.  This is bullsh-- because in an effort to coverup historically problematic words, they hide what's going on from patients.”

 

“DSM 5 reclassified dementia as “major neurocognitive disorder” and MCI as “mild neurocognitive disorder”.  Physicians like to name things too much so they can say they named something.  Outside of psychiatrists, no one is using these awkward terms. ”

 

Please look at this uploaded video for examples of many folks who are considered to have MCI and they are far from it. I make a comment to them at 41.45. It’s called What Triggers "Off Moods" and How to Pull Yourself Out of Them on Dementia Chats which was created by Lori La Bey. https://youtu.be/dnS-UB66GzQ

Here is a link to the Dementia Chats page which offers a lot of information on various topics and also shows other panelists as well that may be helpful.  https://alzheimersspeaks.com/dementia-chats-educational-videos/