More information
To find out more information about delirium and access to resources and easy read information you can follow the links below and follow hashtag, ‘icanpreventDELIRIUM’ and hashtag ‘DeliriumReady’ on Twitter.
Click the following link to go to – Royal College of Psychiatrists
Click the following link to go to – National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
Click the following link to go to – Dementia UK and search ‘delirium’.
Click the following link to go to – European Delirium Association
Click the following link to go to – MindEd for Families (easy read document) go to older people and search ‘delirium’.
Resources you can share
Dr Krishnan has given permission for the following resources to be shared:
The Delirium Wheel: This is an infographic entitled, ‘Are they different today’. (There is also a text version below.)
- West Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
- Are they different today?
- Behaviour.
- Provide reassurance.
- Be calm and patient.
- Make instructions simple.
- Do not challenge their unusual beliefs.
- Are they over stimulated?
- Do they have specific triggers for challenging behaviour, e.g., sounds, certain people.
- Avoid making residents do something they don’t want to do.
- Does the person have any unmet needs? E.g., thirsty, pain.
- Physical review.
- Have they had a change in medications?
- Hot, swollen skin?
- A cough?
- Dark, smelly urine?
- Check temperature.
- Check blood pressure.
- Are they constipated?
- Are they bathing regularly?
- Are they mobilising regularly?
- Environmental.
- Lighting.
- Noise.
- Do they know where they are?
- Too hot or cold.
- Are there clear signs? E.g., toilet.
- Do they have space to move around?
- Do they have pictures to make it feel homely?
- Do they have access to the rooms they want to be in? E.g., bedroom, kitchen.
- Family and social.
- Work with the family.
- Do they have contact with family? If not, are they provided with social contact?
- Ask family to complete life story document, ‘This is me’.
- Work with family to promote personal care.
- Continence.
- Have a toilet programme in place.
- Hygiene, provide assistance.
- Mobilisation, use regular prompts.
- Pain.
- Ask if they are in pain and if so, provide appropriate pain relief.
- Look for facial gestures.
- Look for body language.
- Food and drink.
- Encourage fluid intake.
- Monitor fluid intake, not fluid given.
- Encourage food intake.
- What do they like and dislike?
- Discuss with family.
- Check dentures are worn, do they fit?
- Do they have problems swallowing?
- With thanks to the following organisations: Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council.