Leading the Fight Against Delirium
When donors give to Langley Community Health & Hospital Foundation, they do so with a common goal in mind: to build upon excellence in care for every vulnerable patient in Langley Memorial Hospital and across the community.
Much of that excellence begins with caregivers and medical staff, who are driven by the support, education and expertise shared among colleagues.
At Langley Memorial Hospital and across the Fraser region, those caregivers who specialize in treating geriatric patients are guided by tools created and promoted by the Frail Elderly-Older Adult Network, or FEOAN. Thanks to donor gifts to Langley Community Health & Hospital Foundation, the network now has more resources and a greater capacity to detect delirium in aging patients.
Delirium is characterized by significant behavioural changes, says Victoria Casas-Alcuaz, clinical nurse specialist and educator with the network. “You have to presume you’re about to see it,” says Victoria, who advocates for proactive measures to reduce the onset and impact of delirium and geriatric patients in care.
Patients with delirium might be confused or agitated and act differently than usual; it’s marked by a dramatic shift in character, and patients also have memory problems or see and hear things that are not there.
“Delirium is a medical emergency,” she says. “Anyone can miss it. Once it happens, that cascade [from bad to worse] is too fast to halt.”
Casas-Alcuaz and the FEOAN team work across 12 sites in the Fraser Health region, co-creating with caregivers, ways to add structure to seniors’ daily lives to prevent delirium. The Fraser Health region reported 1,544 hospital-acquired delirium cases in 2021/22, costing the BC health care system an estimated $18.6 million.
In collaboration with Dr. Belinda Robinson and Petra Pardy, Casas-Alcuaz leads orientations, learning hubs and leadership meetings to identify and share successful practices across the Fraser region. This team has presented in at least a dozen conferences to raise awareness and educate health care professionals about frailty and delirium.
In February 2024, FEOAN’s efforts were recognized at the annual BC Quality Care Awards, earning the runner-up spot in the Strengthening Health and Wellness category.
While older adults have the potential to develop delirium, it’s not easy to notice early signs of the disease before they have a chance to worsen, she says. It requires a special vigilance, which isn’t always easy when units are short-staffed - so education, shared knowledge and expertise are the best antidotes.
“We can learn from each other, and my goal is to remove information silos [among caregivers],” she says. “There’s no use in gatekeeping when there are very few of us in geriatric care and the work is non-stop.”