Stop Delirium
We designed an intervention to promote better prevention, detection and management of delirium in care homes for older people. In designing the intervention, we included not only what's known about preventing delirium, but also what's known about influencing and changing practice. We involved care home staff from the outset in design and delivery of the intervention to ensure relevance and ownership.
The intervention was successfully implemented in all care homes and it was acceptable to care home staff. The direct cost over 10 months was £33,502. Key facilitators included minimising demands on staff time, flexibility of approach, and securing ownership and support from home managers.
We found preliminary evidence supporting changes in staff attitudes and practice, with significant improvements in staff confidence in delirium care. Although the study was not powered to demonstrate effectiveness, (and qualitative data suggested it was too early to expect change at this stage), we found preliminary evidence supporting improvement in resident outcomes e.g hospital admissions and A&E attendance.
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About the Project
The
intervention was delivered by a Specialist Practitioner working into 9
units in 6 homes (6 nursing units, 2 dementia units and one residential
home) over a 10-month period. The essential components of the
intervention were:
• A Delirium Champion - (the Specialist Practitioner) to engage staff in the project
• Education/ training - 3 x 20 minute interactive sessions to all staff, including night staff
• Focus on targeting risk factors - to target prevention
• Staff engagement & ownership -
Working groups were recruited from staff (qualified and unqualified)
who chose to participate in tackling delirium on their unit. These
groups identified key issues relevant to their unit and developed
appropriate solutions and developed materials . The
Specialist Practitioner facilitated the groups, but the ideas and
solutions were generated by the unit staff who formed the groups. 
