In this blog, we explore the importance of Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and what they are. It's essential to get a clear understanding so you can better care for a patient or family member. Plus, we have rounded up some brilliant products that promote independent living by making ADLs manageable.

What does ADL stand for?

ADL stands for Activities of Daily Living, which comprises of five basic tasks required to live an independent and healthy life. Members of the population who have recently received surgery or have disabilities/a condition, such as arthritis, can struggle to complete daily tasks. They are accessed individually, allowing carers to detect areas where the client needs additional help.

What are the 5 ADLS?

1. Personal Hygiene

A person must be able to keep a suitable level of hygiene to meet the standards of ADLs. A person may not meet their needs due to a disability. Some wheelchair users may struggle due to limited mobility, making tasks such as bathing tricky.

Another reason could be the side effects of the medication, causing depression. People with depression tend to disregard bathing. Those with depression usually have decreased energy levels, making bathing an overwhelming or neglected aspect of their life.

Personal hygiene extends beyond just bathing and encompasses brushing your teeth and hair, looking after your nails, feet, scalp, oral hygiene, and ear organ hygiene. There are many areas of our body we need to care for to make sure we stay healthy. Personal hygiene can help prevent the spread of diseases, so it's essential.

Not brushing your teeth can lead to bad breath, toothache, the loss of teeth and even gum cancer.

There are products on the market that can aid with specific issues a person may encounter during these tasks. At Tenura, we have developed cutlery grips, an adaptive aid you slip cutlery or utensils like toothbrushes, combs, and other hygiene-related products into, to increase the handle's width. Thin handles can prevent those with limited dexterity in their hands from having proper control. The silicone structure of the cutlery grips is grip-enhancive.

2. Dressing

From selecting clothes to putting them on, this task requires a variety of movement types. Lifting your arms and putting them through your shirt sleeves involves large mobility movements, whereas buttoning the shirt requires more finicky actions. For people with conditions such as arthritis, the manoeuvrability of limbs and hands is limited, making putting clothes on tricky. There are so many dressing aids to help with the different aspects of getting dressed.

Getting dressed shouldn't be a painful experience, and we realised that many of these dressing aids have thin metal handles, making them tricky to hold for those with limited mobility in their hands. But we have a solution. By cutting Tenura grip roll into strips and building up a thicker handle, you can make dressing aids more comfortable to grasp. Tenura grip roll is made from our grip-enhancing silicone, so your hands will not slide off the handle like they would with the use of the metal handle alone.

Being unable to change clothes or get undressed can affect other activities of daily living. Remaining in the same clothes for days would lead to poor personal hygiene and allow germs to breed, which could cause illness. Another affected daily living activity would be continence due to the inability to unbutton your trousers to use the toilet.

 

3. Eating

Children are a great example of the stages a person may be at when eating. Babies need complete assistance during the task, whereas toddlers have developed partial fine motor skills to hold cutlery and complete the actions required to transport the food from their plate to their mouth. Following this, at 5/6 years old, they can fully feed themselves. You need to evaluate your child's capabilities just as you do with persons in your care. Some people will require full assistance during meal times, whereas those who have some fine motor skills and the coordination necessary to move the food from the plate to their mouth may benefit from the use of adaptive products.

You can add Tenura cutlery grips to the handle's of your eating utensils, such as your knife or fork, to increase the handle's width, making using cutlery comfortable as the utensils are easier to hold. They also are made from 100% silicone which gives them grip-enhancing properties, stopping the cutlery from sliding out of your grasp. We have children's cutlery grips for smaller hands.

Getting the right foods is essential to health. The body needs the correct nutrients to work effectively and fight off infection. Food also gives the body energy to complete other daily living activities.

 

4. Continence

Being able to go to the toilet and control your bowels is another essential daily task. A person may not be capable of controlling their bladder or can't physically move to the bathroom. Understanding the root problem can allow you to put things in place to help the individual.

Bathroom floors tend to be shiny and smooth, making getting on and off the toilet tricky as you can't get a foothold, but we have come up with clever ideas to help those struggling to use the toilet safely.

If a person struggles to get up from the toilet, the use of grab rails can be helpful. But you may find them uncomfortable to hold and not as grip-enhancing as you would like. By wrapping Tenura grip strips around the grab rail handle, you can improve both comfort and grip due to the soft yet grip-enhancing properties of the silicone grip strips.

The contour rug you have around your toilet can be made safer using a Tenura non-slip floor mat underneath. Place your Tenura floor mat under your bathroom rugs to add additional non-slip properties making the bathroom rug extra secure whilst keeping the aesthetic of your bathroom. The non-slip properties mean rugs won't slide but instead will provide a reliable surface to manoeuvre on and off the toilet.

Tenura floor mats have adhesive-like properties that help keep bathroom rugs in place. The floor mat sticks itself to the floor, preventing the rug from moving and allowing the person on the toilet to get a proper foothold without the risk of slips and falls.

If necessary, you can remove the floor mat, and upon removal, no residue will be left behind.

Please note that the Tenura silicone range loses its non-slip properties when wet.

 

5. Mobility

Moving around, whether that's to go to the kitchen for food, or the bathroom, it's critical to health. A person may find their mobility is compromised following injury, surgery or a medical condition. A person may have difficulty in certain areas. For some, they may require hoists around the house or live-in care. Others can get by with a simple Tenura non-slip floor mat that gives them grip and increased confidence when completing activities of daily living. Non-slip floor mats provide a foothold for the user, even on slippery floors. You can use them around the house, beside beds or sofas to help you manoeuvre safely.

It may be worthwhile installing Tenura non-slip bath stickers, which aid a person with mobility in bathrooms or areas frequently exposed to water. You can line a bath or shower's base with Tenura bath stickers. They apply best to smooth surfaces, providing the area is cleaned first with an alcohol-based cleaner (cream-based cleaners leave behind a powder residue that causes the stickers to lift). For more information, please read our application bath stickers blog.

 

Now you have a basic understanding of the products that can help patients or family members overcome the struggles associated with activities of daily living. We hope this blog has given you ideas to provide further support and find effective products for anyone in your care.

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In 1992 the United Nations started the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. An observance day that gives us the opportunity worldwide to reflect and raise awareness of public health and ethical issues surrounding disabilities. On the 3rd of December, the world will come together to support this cause.

In the UK alone, 13.9 million people have a form of disability which equates to 22% of the UK population. In support of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we have hand-selected some Tenura products that are of great value to those with a disability, and we are offering a 10% discount code you can redeem on these items.

An International Picture of People with Disabilities

Over 1 billion people worldwide have a disability, which is roughly 15% of the world's population.

In the UK, many of us have access to fantastic healthcare systems such as the NHS, but take a moment to think of the struggles a disability can have on a person in the developing world. We need to make sure that everyone has access to the help and healthcare they need.

Types of Disabilities and the Community

Another interesting point regarding disabilities is that there are many different types, with some affecting your cognitive behaviour, mental wellbeing or physical form.

Body dysmorphia has had substantial coverage in the news due to social media being a massive influence on our younger generation-this condition is a mental disability but can take a very physical form too. Our middle-aged population are currently feeling the effects of a high-calorie diet, which leads to many health implications. People in their later stages of life are often living with conditions such as dementia and heart disease. Adapting to a disability you weren't born with can be hard to overcome, taking serious will-power and a robust support system.

Disabilities are everywhere in life and can affect any age, which is why it is essential to be mindful and supportive. So join us in raising awareness this International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Many things are connecting this community of people, and it's beyond any one condition. As many of us are affected by disabilities daily, we may not have a disability ourselves, but perhaps a family member, friend, or work colleague might. It is also a day to reflect on the hard work young carers in our community complete daily, doing their best to support their parents, it's almost inconceivable what they go through without any recognition.

We hear in the news, now, more than ever, that a disability is not always visible, which is why we should treat everyone with respect.

Education and the Disabled – Employment and the Disabled

The education system in England is one of the best in the world, we lookout for early signs of learning disabilities such as dyslexia (problems with reading, spelling and other language processing skills), dyspraxia (movement and coordination, language and speech) and ADHD (issues with paying attention, controlling behaviour and hyperactivity).

Education could be affected by a disability which later down the line could affect employability. Therefore, we must learn more about disabilities and adapt our schooling system to be as inclusive as possible.

Tenura Products can be Helpful to Those living with a Disability.

Visual Aids for the Disabled – Tenura Non-Slip Mats

Tenura's silicone range comes in three bright colours and can be helpful visual aids for the disabled.

Red can signal heat or danger, so by placing a Tenura red non-slip mat in the kitchen, it can indicate that objects placed on its surface may be hot. By having that signal, a person can avoid touching the pan and prevent burns or other injuries. Of course, for a disabled person, an accident like a burn can affect their world differently. One disabled person may be unable to compute what's happened while another may not have felt the heat at all, and the burn goes untreated. There are many disabilities and many ways to help, with one being visual aids. This example demonstrates why it's super important to have visual aids and other disability aids around the home.

Tenura silicone non-slip mats are available in three bright colours-red, blue and yellow.

Bathing Aids – Tenura Non-Slip Bath Stickers

Dip your toe in the water of Tenura products with our most popular aid, Tenura non-slip bath stickers. Baths are notoriously slippery. To avoid injury, you can apply Tenura bath stickers. They help build confidence, and positively promote personal hygiene as the idea of a bath or shower is no longer as daunting knowing there's a bathing aid to help.

 

Bespoke Aids to Help in any Situation – Tenura Silicone Grip Strips and Grip Rolls

You can claim your 10% discount code off Tenura grip strips and rolls. You can create bespoke household aids as we see many customer wrapping strips of the grip roll around handles to make them easier and more comfortable to hold.

A disability often helped by Tenura grip roll is arthritis or other hand mobility impairment due to their decreased dexterity.

Tenura Jar and Bottle Openers

We all struggle to open jars and bottles. However, there is a solution, Tenura jar and bottle openers. Using these gadgets puts less strain on muscles and joints, which is vital for those living with conditions such as arthritis or other such hand deformity. This simple cooking aid can help to make one of the small daily tasks easier for a disabled person.

Tenura Non-Slip Fabric

Another adaptable aid is the Tenura non-slip fabric which can be cut down to size and fitted to the area you want to add non-slip qualities. Our customers have lined bookshelves and cupboards with Tenura non-slip fabric as it protects the surface and the objects that reside on it.

The Future of Disabilities

In recent years, we have come so far with the way we can diagnose, treat and care for those with disabilities, but we still have not reached the pinnacle. As science experiments continue, and so does the hard work of the care keyworkers, we can all help to achieve and understand better than we have before.

Don't forget to claim your 10% discount code, IDPD20 at checkout.

There is so much to say on the topic of disabilities, and we can't cover it all in one blog. But you can join the conversation over on social media (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).