Abstract:Objective：To explore the impact of activity of daily living on the satisfaction with life for the rural poor，and the mediation of self⁃rated health fall in between，so as to provide a reference for improving the satisfaction with life for the rural poor. Methods：In June 2019，58 poverty⁃stricken counties（districts）in Jiangsu Province were investigated. Each county（district）randomly selected 2 villages，and each village randomly selected 10 general poor households. All of them were surveyed with self⁃rated health，satisfaction with life （SWL）scale，and activity of daily living（ADL）and so on. We constructed a structural equation model for mediation analysis with AMOS 24.0. Results：The score for self⁃rated health was（3.36±1.20），and the score for the ADL scale were（2.70±0.64），（2.76±0.62），（2.80±0.50），（2.82±0.47），（2.91±0.37），（2.84 ± 0.45）. The score for the SWLS were（4.86 ± 1.66），（4.85 ± 1.68），（4.89 ± 1.68），（4.73 ± 1.67）. There were positive correlations between ADL，SWL and self⁃rated health（P < 0.001）. The structural equation model showed that P < 0.05 and 95% CI not including 0，which indicated that the mediating effect was significant. The self⁃rated health played a partial mediator role between ADL and SWL，and the effect size was 0.283. Conclusion：The activity of daily living，self⁃rated health and satisfaction with life of poor people in rural areas are not good. There are positive predictive effects among the three. Self⁃rated health plays a part in mediation between activity of daily living and satisfaction with life. The higher the activity of daily living，the higher the satisfaction of life. Self⁃rated health can be improved to enhance the impact of activity of daily living on satisfaction with life.