Evaluation of outcomes in stroke rehabilitation, beyond basic activities of daily living (BADLs), has become extremely important as more people survive stroke and return to their homes in the community.
Many of these individuals are healthy but they cannot perform the basic activities of daily living such as preparing food, eating, dressing themselves, bathing, and the like.
The inability to perform basic activities of daily living without help like dressing, eating and bathing or the inability to perform more advanced activities is associated with substantial excess mortality.
Specifically, individuals in need of long-term care must be unable to perform three of the five basic Activities of Daily Living and must have an income of at least $12,000, exclusive of Social Security.
The most recent of these was contained in the Clinton administration's ill-fated Health Security Act, which would have offered PAS to persons needing assistance with at least three of five basic activities of daily living (ADLs).
There will also be the need for long-term care services to assist the elderly with limitations in the basic activities of daily living, from bathing to meal preparation.
