5 Activities of Daily Living to Maintain Healthiness

Aging adults sometimes have some trouble keeping up with activities of daily living which can ultimately lead to other major problems. If you happen to see your parent’s health begin to deteriorate or they have developed a slightly unpleasant scent, it may be because they are not keeping up with their activities. 

ADVERTISEMENT

 The daily activities for healthy living known as ADLs, are usually used to help aged people keep up with their lives. There are a whole bunch of activities listed under this umbrella like paying bills, taking medications on time and getting physical exercise.

This article is going to focus on five essential activities, but we will provide you with a link to the full list below so you can go a little further after you get these 5 down. Whether it is yourself that is aging or you have parents and grandparents that are, keeping up with your daily activities is critical for good health.

ADVERTISEMENT
Keep Active and Eat Healthy to Improve Well-being and Feel Great ...
Image Source: Wikipedia.org

The 5 Main Activities of Daily Living

Bathing and Personal Grooming

Within the ADL list, a daily bathing and grooming habit is vital. Folks should be showering/bathing as well as keeping up with dental health and more. They should be able to do this without any assistance from anyone, so they can learn to be independent. Here’s a list of other activities they should do.

  • Ensure that they are using the toilet independently.
  • Ensure that they are maintaining their daily self-cleaning practices.
  • Ensure that their hair, nails and skin looks well maintained and healthy.
  • Ensure their clothes are clean and neat, and that they are able to dress themselves.

Nutrition and Exercise

This is another important activity for daily living. They must be able to shop, clean and cook their own meals in the kitchen, preferably without any help. These days there are a ton of apps that will deliver groceries to make things easier.

ADVERTISEMENT

Exercise goes without saying, and being able to walk, swim, or jog on a daily basis will ensure that they are maintaining their health, which is of primary importance to them at this time.

Other activities include the following.

  • Being able to safely use the kitchen appliances and other tools.
  • Ensuring that food doesn’t go bad as they did not check on the expiry dates.
  • Ensuring they adhere to dietary restrictions.
  • Ensuring they can feed themselves.

Lifestyle

They should be able to schedule and keep their doctor’s appointments. This is vital, especially if they have a health challenge, which is almost always the case with the elderly.

They should also be in a position to attend to family and social meetings by themselves. Being able to remember dates and times and faces is a good way of checking their mental abilities.

Additionally, they should pay their bills on time, and if you find that they are not doing this, then they shall need help.

Simple Housekeeping

Staying indoors means that you must ensure your home is clean and they should be able to do this independently. While it doesn’t hurt to have some help if they can afford it, they should still be in a position to do so by themselves.

Maintaining the yard and fixing simple things around the house can be outsourced to other people as they are probably not strong enough to do it.

However, this activity is not set in stone. If you aged loved one is not able to keep their home clean and tidy, then you should consider hiring them some help. It is for their own safety. An in-home caregiver can come in handy here.

In case they need more help in other areas, maybe they shouldn’t be living by themselves after all, and it may be time for them to live in an assisted living home, where they can receive all the help they need to live a healthy life.

Continence

This is the ability for the aged to have control of their bowel and bladder functions. Having this kind of control ensures that they are able to live by themselves without much assistance. Otherwise, they will need to have someone care for them.

It would be wrong for such a person to live without help, and if you have a loved one in this situation, you will need to find 24-hour care for them.

Types of Physical Activities
Image Source: Wikipedia.org

Conclusion

It is always important to ensure that you monitor an aging person and correct any mistakes they may be making. It can be easy to get into a rut when a person is not working or taking care of children, and that’s why daily activities are so crucial. They help keep people productive and healthy.