DeliA - Delirium in nursing homes

Background

Delirium is a health-threatening condition characterised by confusion, attention deficits and orientation difficulties. The main characteristics are the acute onset within hours and days and the fluctuating course of symptoms. In particular, older people with various risk factors such as dementia, depression or hearing and visual impairments have an increased potential to develop delirium. The ‘Delirium in geriatric care facilities’ (DeliA) project is a consortium project funded by the Innovation Fund of the Joint Federal Committee.

Project aims

The consortium project has three main objectives. Firstly, the prevalence of delirium in residents of elderly care facilities in Germany is to be determined. Significantly associated factors with a particular focus on pharmacotherapeutic effects will also be investigated. The second aim is to investigate the attitude and awareness of nursing staff and general practitioners regarding the occurrence of delirium in a qualitative interview study. The third aim is to develop an interdisciplinary e-learning platform for nurses and GPs.

Methods

Under the leadership of Dr Bernhard Holle, the DZNE in Witten is responsible for conducting a systematic review on the prevalence of delirium in geriatric care facilities and a prevalence study on delirium in geriatric care facilities.

Further project steps of the cooperation partner organisations:

Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg (UOL), Department of Health Services Research, Chair of Nursing Science (Prof Dr Rebecca Palm):

• Review of educational interventions on delirium in geriatric care facilities
• Development and testing of an educational intervention (online training) on the topic of delirium in elderly care facilities

Department of General Medicine (AM RUB) of the Ruhr University Bochum (Prof Dr Horst Christian Vollmar):

• Qualitative study on current care practice

University of Witten/Herdecke (UW/H), Chair of Clinical Pharmacology (Prof Dr Petra Thürmann)

• Analysis of the pharmacotherapeutic correlations

Expected results

With the successful implementation of the prevalence study, relevant evidence-based results on delirium indicators are available for the first time on a large scale in German geriatric care facilities. The key figures and associated factors can be used to critically analyse the care discourse. The expected results of the interview study on the awareness and behaviour of nursing staff and general practitioners are also highly relevant here. The e-learning platform can serve as the basis for a multimodal intervention. Targeted prevention, early detection and adequate (preferably non-pharmacological) therapy can ultimately improve the care of those in need of care in elderly care facilities.

Project website:

https://delia.info/