UNDERSTANDING DELIRIUM

Course overview

Research suggests that as many as 30 percent of those residents whom we believe have chronic, non-reversible dementia may actually have delirium, a reversible condition - or even dementia with the presence of delirium. Left untreated, delirium can result in serious medical complications and even death. The challenge to care providers is to acknowledge the rate of onset (thereby differentiating between dementia and delirium), and then to identify the situational, environmental or human factor antecedents which may be causing the delirium.