Management of delirium on acute geriatric wards: A survey in Belgian hospitals

This survey shows the need for a uniform practice guideline on the prevention, detection and management of delirium. There are currently no studies available, which show that the implementation of a guideline for delirium improves the quality of care [27]. However, the implementation of guidelines for other diseases, as acute myocardial infarction, has already proven their effect on quality of care [28]. The College of Geriatrics aims to develop a practice guideline based on the best evidence currently available and on international guidelines, such as National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) Guideline [1]. In this way, hospitals can implement evidence-based prevention, screening and standard intervention care plans to maintain uniformity and quality of care in delirium management. In doing so, the challenge will be to provide strategic education at individual and organizational level, and to take into account barriers and facilitators for implementation in daily care. Examples of action strategies to address difficulties in implementing delirium prevention and management strategies and examples to a related geriatric syndrome (e.g. falls) are reported elsewhere [29] and [30].