The need for a better definition of ADL.
In rehabilitation information about the client is an important tool. The main concepts available for this purpose are the negative triad impairment--disability--handicap and the positive term ADL (activities of daily living). Retrospective data from an instruction group for parents of disabled children indicate that the negative triad does not appeal to them, while the positive ADL proves too general a term. Other findings from adult amputees suggest that the negative approach may even hamper efforts to overcome their handicap. So, tripartition of the positive ADL seems necessary. A threefold positive approach indeed proves useful in dealing with clients, but in such cases standard expressions can not be used. It is therefore argued that abbreviations as technical terms in their own right should be introduced for international professional usage, namely: ODL (mere functions, required for ADL performance), ADL proper (the well-known but never-defined activities of daily living) and IDL (usual pursuits concretely described, thus remaining both value-scalable and ADL-analysable). More elaborate tentative definitions are provided.
Vreede
C F
CF
G.Z.G. Rehabilitation Centre, Den Bosch, The Netherlands.
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000674:Amputees / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D006801:Humans; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D012046:Rehabilitation; D012189:Retrospective Studies