Holistic Caring for Older Adults Practice Test

Assessing independence in daily living activities is best captured by evaluating Activities of Daily Living and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living. ADLs cover basic self-care tasks such as bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, transferring, and continence. IADLs cover more complex tasks needed to live independently, like preparing meals, managing medications, finances, shopping, transportation, housekeeping, and using the phone. Together, these measures show what a person can do on their own and where support or care is needed, guiding decisions about safety at home, level of assistance, and care planning. Other tools assess related factors—mobility and fall risk (Timed Up and Go), pain (PAINAD), cognition (MMSE or MoCA), or frailty (Fried criteria)—but they do not directly measure independence in daily activities.