Delirium is one of the most common disorders occurring in hospital medicine, occurring in one in five general hospital patients, yet it remains underappreciated and underresearched. The ubiquitous nature of delirium means that no single field of medicine has taken clinical and research responsibility for it as an entity and a forum to bring together interested researchers and practitioners has been lacking. The European Delirium Association has recently been founded to address this need.
An inaugural meeting held on October 5–6, 2006, in The Netherlands brought together 50 delegates from the disciplines central to delirium including doctors, nurses, and psychologists working in geriatrics, psychiatry, palliative medicine, paediatrics, and neurology. This enthusiastic gathering received presentations addressing a wide spectrum of delirium issues including the latest developments in pathophysiology, phenomenology, treatment (including service models), and the underaddressed area of advocacy. We also formed a provisional council. This consists of Kees Kalisvaart (President), David Meagher (Vice President), Jouko Laurila (Vice President), Alasdair MacLullich (Secretary), John Young (Treasurer), and members John Holmes, Barbro Robertsson, Jos de Jonghe, Dimitrios Adamis, Juliet Spiller, and Barbara Kamholz.
As well as providing wide-ranging coverage of the field, the meeting also allowed delegates to make suggestions about purpose and activities of the European Delirium Association. We decided that the association should have a broad remit, covering research, clinical practice, and promotion of better care through campaigning at local, national, and international levels. The association will operate through an annual meeting, a website, and an e-mail newsletter. We currently have around 200 members on our mailing list.
One important theme that emerged was that in order to overcome the multiple conceptual, methodological, and logistical challenges posed by delirium, researchers need mechanisms to share ideas and methods. A subsequent e-survey exploring expectations of members identified advocacy and the promotion of research activity, especially in phenomenology, pathophysiology, and treatment, as key functions for the Association. To help foster these developments, the Association will set up working groups to suggest best practice regarding, e.g., research designs and the development of evidence-based clinical guidelines. Additionally, the Association's website forum will provide a means of discussing clinical and research questions.
Improving clinical practice is a critical issue that will require activities at multiple levels, from educating individual practitioners to influencing governments and international organisations. Our first steps are to gather and circulate key literature and other resources from different countries so that high-quality information can be posted on our website. These resources will include clinical guidelines and care pathways from different centres, patient and career information sheets, and so on. We also plan to influence policy at a national and international level, through, e.g., setting up audits in collaboration with governmental departments of health.
The next conference will take place in Ireland in October or November 2007. As with the Alkmaar meeting, we will have a broad programme of talks covering research and practice in all patient groups affected by delirium. We will also have expert-led workshops on, e.g., the use of standard rating scales and research design. Please check the website for information on the conference.
All interested clinicians and researchers are warmly invited to participate in the association. For further information and contact details, please see the website www.europeandeliriumassociation.com. Any suggestions will be gratefully received.
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