Person-centered occupational therapy intervention for the prevention of delirium and improvement in occupational performance in elderly patients admitted to an intensive care unit: A randomized controlled single-blinded trial protocol

What is it about?

Delirium is a condition that occurs frequently among people hospitalized in the ICU, especially the elderly. Its manifestation should be avoided because those who experience delirium are more likely to stay in the hospital longer and suffer long-term consequences, such as worsened functionality and cognitive decline. To date, we know that there are various interventions to prevent delirium, particularly those that do not rely on medication and therefore need to be studied more extensively. Among these, one intervention is the work of occupational therapists, who engage in cognitive stimulation and promote mobility, encouraging patients to maintain their performance in daily activities, even in a setting like the ICU.

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Photo by ALAN DE LA CRUZ on Unsplash

Photo by ALAN DE LA CRUZ on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Although there are some proposals in Occupational Therapy to prevent delirium, this is the first, as far as we know, that seeks to understand whether personalized interventions—including but not limited to exercises focused on memory, attention, language, and executive functions, using topics of interest to the patient—could further reduce the incidence of delirium. Our hypothesis is that subjects that spark interest and increase motivation make the therapy more meaningful, promoting greater engagement from patients. Thus, we believe that our personalized protocol could lead to a greater reduction in the occurrence of delirium compared to standardized interventions.

Perspectives

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Although I have 17 years of experience in critical and semi-critical areas in a high-complexity private hospital, my interest in delirium arose during the pandemic when I first read a clinical trial by an occupational therapist researcher from Chile. I was fascinated and impressed by the results obtained. From that moment on, I began to approach my patients with a focus on prevention, eager to explore this field further. It was then that I had the opportunity to include this topic in my research project for my master's degree. The result of this effort was my first significant article, published in a prestigious journal like PLOS ONE, born from countless sleepless nights and even some instances of insomnia. I was fortunate to have two advisors whose competence and experience are exceptional, in addition to being caring and believing in my work. I also want to mention my co-author Davi, a talented researcher and friend. From this collaboration, our article was born, presenting the protocol of our clinical trial.

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