Psychology Today | 07.05.2026 03:31
In medicine, activities of daily living or ADLs are among the most reliable indicators of a patient's functional health. Can they dress themselves? Feed themselves? Move through their day with independence? These aren't exotic skills, they're the baseline to living our lives. And when they start to deteriorate, clinicians will pay attention, because the erosion of ADL's can be a slippery slope. And ADLs matter precisely because they're ordinary and often — no one notices them until they're gone. By then, something larger and clinically significant might be involved.
