Assisting Patients in Their Activities of Daily Living

Course Summary

Meeting the activity of daily living needs of patients and ensuring these needs are met is a primary role of the health care professional. Assessment of a patient’s physiological needs is the first step to identifying any deficits in functioning that need to be supported. Using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the basic activity of daily living needs can be determined during the patient assessment. While some patients can attend to most of their daily living needs, others will require routine assistance. In addition, some patients will not be able to feed themselves and they may be at risk of aspiration. Assisting a patient with food and fluid intake are essential to patient health and quality of living, and often patients need help to take medication. Assisting patients in their activity of daily living skills also includes encouraging them to remain physically active and to stay independent.