A study of the acceptability of a community delirium toolkit to healthcare staff

Gluchowski, Ashley; Hawley-Hague, Helen; Charles, Indigo; Pratt, Helen; Vardy, Emma

Abstract

Background: Delirium is a common condition that frequently results in hospital admission. There is increasing evidence, to show that delirium can be safely assessed and managed in the community, we have previously published the results of a community delirium toolkit pilot demonstrating this.

Objectives: We sought to evaluate the acceptability of a community delirium toolkit to healthcare teams involved in its implementation in Greater Manchester (GM). Staff from teams with a high level of adoption were selected.

Methods: Eight qualitative structured one-to-one on-line interviews were completed with staff from three teams. Thematic coding was used following a framework analysis.

Results: Four themes emerged around set-up (initial contact, support and training), usage (benefits, challenges and embedding in practice), opinion and wider dissemination. Organisational context was key to successful implementation. Staff perceptions of usefulness were an important motivator for staff. New appreciation was acquired around the usefulness of blood tests in investigating causes of suspected delirium. Key enablers were development of a co-produced toolkit and project management with sharing of resources.

Conclusions: This study confirms that the GM community delirium toolkit was easy for the teams who engaged with the pilot to use and adopt it.

• Working Paper Type: Preprint
• Online Publication Date: Mar 19, 2025
• Publication Date: Mar 19, 2025
• Deposit Date: Mar 31, 2025
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.03.17.25324089