ADLs
Activities of Daily Living
Bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, transferring (getting in and out of a bed or chair) and continence. Almost every care assessment in Canada counts how many of these a person needs help with, and the number drives both what care is recommended and what public funding is allocated.
Why it matters
When an assessor asks how your mother manages, they are counting ADLs. Answering about her best day rather than her average one is the most common way families end up with too few funded hours.