AGING, DELIRIUM, AND POST-INTENSIVE CARE SYNDROME: NOVEL TREATMENTS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS: Session 311

Abstract

Delirium has been traditionally defined as an acute onset of fluctuating cognitive status, usually in the context of precipitating medical or surgical events. Most interventions have focused on in-hospital prevention and pharmacologic symptom-focused management. Recent data suggest, however, that delirium may be better conceptualized as a chronic disorder, with long-term cognitive, mental health, and physical effects. Delirium also impacts family members who witness loved ones suffering in the hospital and care for them after discharge. Currently, there are no evidence-based models focused on delirium survivors and their caregivers. This symposium presents innovative clinical care approaches and ongoing research that promote both the well-being of patients suffering from delirium, and their family members who care for them. Examples will focus on the intensive care unit (ICU) population because of the high prevalence of ICU delirium and the rapidly increasing number of ICU survivors. In this symposium, we will cover novel pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic approaches, including a pharmacologic bundle of care to treat established delirium, a personalized music intervention to prevent delirium, and a visual reality intervention to treat delirium. The second part will focus on groundbreaking work in two new areas of delirium clinical care and research: models of care for delirium survivors, and mental health symptoms in family members of patients with delirium. This part starts off with a presentation about models of care and ongoing clinical trials for ICU survivors. The Critical Care Recovery Center (CCRC) is a novel model of care for survivors of ICU delirium, and one of the first ICU survivor clinics in the U.S. Then there will be discussion about ongoing novel research trials to study the efficacy of home based care in ICU survivors, and a cognitive and physical training program to ameliorate long-term cognitive impairment from ICU delirium. Finally, there will be a presentation about PICS-family (PICS-F), the mental health symptoms that family members of ICU patients experience, and treatment approaches for caregivers of patients with delirium.