Table 1 Description of the five domains of functional ability
Functional Ability Domains | Description - World Report on Ageing and Health [8] (pp. 160–188) |
|---|---|
Meet basic needs | Involves being able to afford to have an adequate diet, clothing, suitable housing, and healthcare and long-term care services. It also extends to having support to minimize the impact of economic shocks that may come with illness, disability, losing a spouse, or the means of making a livelihood. |
Learn, grow, and make decisions | The ability to learn, grow, and make decisions includes efforts to continue to learn and apply knowledge, engage in problem solving, continue on a path to personal development, and be able to make choices. |
Be mobile | Involves movement in all its forms, whether powered by the body (with or without an assistive device) or a vehicle. Mobility includes getting up from a chair or moving from a bed to a chair, walking for leisure, exercising, completing daily tasks, driving a car, and using public transport. |
Build and maintain relationships | A broad range of relationships are important to older people, including their relationships with children and other family members, intimate relationships, and informal social relationships with friends, neighbours, colleagues, and acquaintances, as well as more formal relationships with community-service providers. |
Contribute to society | Covers myriad contributions that older people make to their families and communities, such as assisting friends and neighbours, mentoring peers and younger people, and caring for family members and the wider community. |