ABSTRACT
Introduction Activities of daily living include personal activities (self-care) and domestic activities. They have long been thought of as belonging to ‘an area of occupational therapy expertise’ (Thornton and Rennie, 1988, p49). Occupational therapists recognise that a person’s ability to perform daily tasks provides crucial information about their ability to live independently (Aubin et al, 2009a). Therapists also appreciate the importance of the ‘instrumental’ activities of daily living (Fricke and Unsworth, 2001). These activities are instrumental to, or actively contribute towards, daily life in the home and community and include everything from using a telephone to managing transport (including driving), medication management and snack preparation (Gibson et al, 2011).
