Activities of daily living are those activities that increase a person’s independence and adaptation to the environment. There are three types of activities of daily living: basic, instrumental and advanced activities of daily living.

What are instrumental activities of daily living?

Instrumental activities of daily living are activities oriented towards interaction with the environment that are often complex and generally optional, as they could be delegated to others.

• Pet care.
• Raising children.
• Use of communication systems.
• Getting around your community.
• Handling financial issues.
• Health care and self-maintenance.
• Creating and maintaining a home.
• Food preparation and cleanup.
• Safety procedures and emergency response.
• Shopping.

Instrumental activities of daily living: objectives

Instrumental activities of daily living are aimed at interacting with the environment. They are more complex than basic activities of daily living and are necessary for independent living.

5 examples of instrumental activities of daily living

The neurorehabilitation platform for professionals NeuronUP develops exercises to work on instrumental activities of daily living. With these exercises you can create your own training program in activities of daily living for your patients. And remember, the activities of daily living should end up being worked with each patient in their real environment based on their needs. After training with NeuronUP, this process will be less costly and more satisfying!

Here are 5 examples developed by NeuronUP:

1. Objects, Places and Professionals

This exercise consists of relating various objects with the places where they are obtained and the professionals who are in charge of them.

What does this worksheet work?

This cognitive stimulation card works on spatial orientation and shopping.

2. What’s Making Noise in the Kitchen?

This exercise consists of identifying the sounds heard in the context of a kitchen. The patient must listen carefully to the noises and click on the object that makes each sound. In the following video we show you an example:

What does this exercise work?

This game works on auditory gnosias, cooking and cleaning. 

3. Accurate payments

Another of NeuronUP’s instrumental activities of daily life is Accurate Payments. This is an exercise with clear benefits for daily life. The patient has to select the exact amount of money requested. In this particular example we have customized the activity and selected that the currency we want to work with is the US dollar (you can choose the currency of any country).

What does this exercise work?

It works on working memory, shopping and planning.

4. Straighten up the kitchen

One of the games to work on activities of daily living in NeuronUP is Straighten up the kitchen. This exercise consists of placing the shopping items in their corresponding places.

What does this activity work?

It works on cooking and cleaning, sustained attention, semantic memory, episodic memory and reasoning.

5. Printable guides for rehabilitation professionals

Although number five on this list isn’t technically an individual activitiy to work a specific IADL, NeuronUP features hundreds of printable guides for the rehabilitation specialist (occupational therapist, speech-language therapist, neuropsychologist, etc) to print out and work in-clinic with their patients or clients.

Some of the activities included are as follows (hyperlinked below are a few free samples):

• Making breakfast
• Following a recipe
• Setting the table
• Physical exercise
• Waste and recycling
• Cleaning countertops and surfaces
• Washing clothes
• Shoe care
• Basic house repairs
• Hygiene
• Sleeping and resting
• many more