Activities of Daily Living Lab

Two people assist a third middle person using a lift to transfer the middle person out of a wheelchair to a bed.

Practice the activities that make daily life at home possible in RIT’s Activities of Daily Living Lab. This residential-style environment includes a functioning kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom where occupational therapy students examine how health conditions, disability, aging, habits, and environmental features affect everyday performance. Students develop practical strategies that support safety, independence, and participation at home.

What is an Activities of Daily Living Lab?

Activities of daily living include personal care tasks such as bathing, dressing, toileting, and functional mobility. Instrumental activities of daily living include meal preparation, household management, and other routines needed to manage life at home.

The lab allows students to evaluate these activities in the environments where they ordinarily occur. They consider the person’s abilities and goals, the demands of the activity, and the arrangement of the physical space. This information guides decisions about intervention, adaptive equipment, caregiver education, and environmental modification.

What Do Students Learn and Do in the Lab?

Students learn to:

  • Evaluate performance during dressing, bathing, toileting, meal preparation, bed mobility, and household routines
  • Identify environmental barriers and safety risks
  • Practice transfers, positioning, body mechanics, and safe use of transfer equipment
  • Select and teach the use of adaptive equipment
  • Modify tools, tasks, routines, and physical environments
  • Address fatigue, pain, reduced strength, limited mobility, cognition, and sensory changes during daily activities
  • Apply energy-conservation, work-simplification, and task-sequencing strategies
  • Practice caregiver instruction and collaborative problem-solving
  • Compare performance before and after an adaptation or intervention
  • Document recommendations for home safety, equipment, and continued services

The lab gives students repeated opportunities to observe performance, test a strategy, make adjustments, and evaluate the result.

What Technology and Equipment Will Students Work With?

The Activities of Daily Living Lab includes:

  • A fully functioning residential-style kitchen with appliances, sink, countertops, cabinets, and work areas
  • Adaptive food-preparation, cooking, dining, and household tools
  • A simulated bedroom with an adjustable bed and bedside furniture
  • A simulated bathroom and shower area
  • Bathing, toileting, dressing, and transfer equipment
  • An overhead transfer-track system for mobility and patient-handling instruction
  • Mobility aids and home-safety equipment
  • Positioning devices and adaptive equipment
  • A small-group instructional area for demonstrations, discussion, and feedback

Students use the equipment within complete daily routines. The focus remains on whether a strategy can be used safely and successfully in the context of the person’s life.

More Facilities