TY - JOUR
T1 - Instrumental activities of daily living among community dwelling older adults : the perspectives of occupational therapists and older adults
AU - Toth, Cheryl
AU - Tulliani, Nikki
AU - Liu, Karen
AU - Bissett, Michelle
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - Introduction: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is considered as the transitional stage between healthy aging and dementia. Individuals with MCI commonly display difficulties with instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). Understanding the most important and commonly performed IADL may enable occupational therapists to target therapy interventions. Objectives: To determine the most important, most frequently preformed and most cognitively demanding IADL completed by older adults to facilitate independent community living. Methods: Occupational therapists rated the importance of 30 IADL on a Likert scale ranging from ‘not at all important’ to ‘extremely important’. The 20 IADL considered the most important were then re-rated by older adults. Ratings of frequency of performance, and perceived cognitive effort of performance were also collected. Results: According to therapists (n = 36), the most important IADL were ‘medication management’, ‘making a phone call’, ‘making medical appointments’, and ‘making simple meals’. According to older adults (n = 30), ‘making medical appointments’, ‘paying bills’, ‘medication management’, and ‘grocery shopping’ were the most important IADL. Older adults identified ‘preparing breakfast’, ‘medication management’, ‘using a microwave’, and ‘preparing a hot beverage’ as the most frequently preformed. The IADL perceived by older adults to require the most cognitive effort were ‘Paying bills’, ‘grocery shopping’, and ‘making medical appointments’. Conclusion: Older adults are able to identify the important IADL which are required for community living. Therapists can use this information to target intervention planning when working with clients with MCI. This may be an important factor to enable older adults with MCI to remain in their own homes.
AB - Introduction: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is considered as the transitional stage between healthy aging and dementia. Individuals with MCI commonly display difficulties with instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). Understanding the most important and commonly performed IADL may enable occupational therapists to target therapy interventions. Objectives: To determine the most important, most frequently preformed and most cognitively demanding IADL completed by older adults to facilitate independent community living. Methods: Occupational therapists rated the importance of 30 IADL on a Likert scale ranging from ‘not at all important’ to ‘extremely important’. The 20 IADL considered the most important were then re-rated by older adults. Ratings of frequency of performance, and perceived cognitive effort of performance were also collected. Results: According to therapists (n = 36), the most important IADL were ‘medication management’, ‘making a phone call’, ‘making medical appointments’, and ‘making simple meals’. According to older adults (n = 30), ‘making medical appointments’, ‘paying bills’, ‘medication management’, and ‘grocery shopping’ were the most important IADL. Older adults identified ‘preparing breakfast’, ‘medication management’, ‘using a microwave’, and ‘preparing a hot beverage’ as the most frequently preformed. The IADL perceived by older adults to require the most cognitive effort were ‘Paying bills’, ‘grocery shopping’, and ‘making medical appointments’. Conclusion: Older adults are able to identify the important IADL which are required for community living. Therapists can use this information to target intervention planning when working with clients with MCI. This may be an important factor to enable older adults with MCI to remain in their own homes.
KW - activities of daily living
KW - older people
UR - http://handle.westernsydney.edu.au:8081/1959.7/uws:47759
M3 - Article
SN - 0045-0766
VL - 64
SP - 136
EP - 136
JO - Australian Occupational Therapy Journal
JF - Australian Occupational Therapy Journal
IS - Suppl. 2
ER -