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Editor’s Perspective What We Already Know about This Topic What This Article Tells Us That Is New Background Postoperative delirium and postoperative cognitive dysfunction share risk factors and may co-occur, but their relationship is not well established. The primary goals of this study were to describe the prevalence of postoperative cognitive dysfunction and to investigate its association with in-hospital delirium. The authors hypothesized that delirium would be a significant risk factor for postoperative cognitive dysfunction during follow-up. Methods This study used data from an observational study of cognitive outcomes after major noncardiac surgery, the Successful Aging after Elective Surgery study. Postoperative delirium was evaluated each hospital day with confusion assessment method–based interviews supplemented by chart reviews. Postoperative cognitive dysfunction was determined using methods adapted from the International Study of Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction. Associations between delirium and postoperative cognitive dysfunction were examined at 1, 2, and 6 months. Results One hundred thirty-four of 560 participants (24%) developed delirium during hospitalization. Slightly fewer than half (47%, 256 of 548) met the International Study of Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction-defined threshold for postoperative cognitive dysfunction at 1 month, but this proportion decreased at 2 months (23%, 123 of 536) and 6 months (16%, 85 of 528). At each follow-up, the level of agreement between delirium and postoperative cognitive dysfunction was poor (kappa less than .08) and correlations were small (r less than .16). The relative risk of postoperative cognitive dysfunction was significantly elevated for patients with a history of postoperative delirium at 1 month (relative risk = 1.34; 95% CI, 1.07–1.67), but not 2 months (relative risk = 1.08; 95% CI, 0.72–1.64), or 6 months (relative risk = 1.21; 95% CI, 0.71–2.09). Conclusions Delirium significantly increased the risk of postoperative cognitive dysfunction in the first postoperative month; this relationship did not hold in longer-term follow-up. At each evaluation, postoperative cognitive dysfunction was more common among patients without delirium. Postoperative delirium and postoperative cognitive dysfunction may be distinct manifestations of perioperative neurocognitive deficits.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the United Kingdom developed guidelines for the diagnosis, prevention, and management of delirium in July, 2010, which included 10 recommendations for delirium prevention. The Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP) is a targeted multicomponent strategy which has proven effective and cost-effective to prevent functional and cognitive decline in hospitalized older persons. HELP provided much of the basis for 7/10 (70%) of the NICE recommendations. Given interest by new HELP sites to meet NICE guidelines, we developed 3 new protocols which were not previously included in the HELP program, addressing hypoxia, infection, and pain. Additionally, the NICE dehydration guideline included constipation, which was not specifically addressed in the HELP protocols. This project describes the systematic development of 3 new protocols (hypoxia, infection, and pain) and the expansion of an existing HELP protocol (constipation/dehydration) to achieve alignment between the HELP protocols and NICE guidelines. Following the Institute of Medicine recommendations for developing trustworthy guidelines, we undertook a systematic review of current literature by an interdisciplinary group of experts, rated the quality of the evidence, developed intervention protocols based on the highest quality evidence, and submitted the protocols first to internal review, then external review by an interdisciplinary panel of experts. The protocols were revised based on the review process, and were incorporated into the HELP materials. Inclusion of these protocols enhances the scope of the HELP program, and allows fulfillment of NICE guideline recommendations for delirium prevention. The rigorous process we applied may provide a useful example for updating existing guidelines or protocols, which may be applicable to a broad range of clinical applications.

OBJECTIVES To explore strategies used by clinical programs to justify operations to decision-makers using the example of the Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP), an evidence-based, cost-effective program to improve care for hospitalized older adults. DESIGN Qualitative study design utilizing 62 in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted with HELP staff members and hospital administrators between September 2008 and August 2009. SETTING 19 HELP sites in hospitals across the U.S. and Canada that had been recruiting patients for at least 6 months. PARTICIPANTS and MEASUREMENTS HELP staff and hospital administrator experiences sustaining the program in the face of actual or perceived financial threats, with a focus on factors they believe are effective in justifying the program to decision-makers in the hospital or health system. RESULTS Using the constant comparative method, a standard qualitative analysis technique, three major themes were identified across interviews. Each focuses on a strategy for successfully justifying the program and securing funds for continued operations: 1) interact meaningfully with decision-makers, including formal presentations that showcase operational successes, and also informal means that highlight the benefits of HELP to the hospital or health system; 2) document day-to-day, operational successes in metrics that resonate with decision-maker priorities; and 3) garner support from influential hospital staff that feed into administrative decision-making, particularly nurses and physicians. CONCLUSION As clinical programs face financially challenging times, it is important to find effective ways to justify their operations to decision-makers. Strategies described here may help clinically-effective and cost-effective programs sustain themselves, and thus may help improve care in their institutions.

Delirium, a common condition in older hospitalized patients associated with substantial morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs, can be successfully prevented by the Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP). In 2011, HELP transitioned to a web-based dissemination model to provide accessible resources, including implementation materials, information for healthcare professionals and patients/families, and a searchable reference database. We hypothesized that while intended to assist sites to establish a HELP program, the resources offered by the HELP website might have broader applications. We sent an email requesting participation in an online survey of all HELP website registrants from September 10, 2012 to March 15, 2013 to examine the uses of the resources on the website and to evaluate knowledge diffusion related to these resources. Of 102 responding sites, 73 (72%) completed the survey. Thirty-nine (53%) had implemented and maintained an active HELP model. The HELP website resources were used by 26 sites (35%) to plan for implementation of the HELP model and by 35 sites (50%) to implement and support the program during and after launch. Sites also used the resources for the development of non-HELP delirium prevention programs and guidelines. A total of 45 sites (61%) used the website resources for educational purposes, targeting healthcare professionals, patients, families, or volunteers. The results demonstrated that HELP resources were used for implementation of HELP and other delirium prevention programs, and were also disseminated broadly in innovative educational efforts across both the professional and lay communities.

Clinical programs in geriatrics face a challenging fiscal environment. Although recent research offers lessons from successful programs to help others like them sustain operations, it is not clear whether these lessons apply to programs that are beginning to fail. This study takes an approach that is frequently recommended, but rarely applied: examining failed programs to develop guidance for those at risk. It uses the example of an evidence-based, cost-effective geriatrics program that has been successfully implemented at more than 200 sites: the Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP). Data come from 14 in-depth interviews conducted between January and May 2011 with staff and hospital administrators affiliated with the six fully operational sites that closed between 2006 and 2011. Using the constant comparative method, researchers identified major themes suggesting that former HELP sites closed because of two interrelated problems centered on a major financial crisis or restructuring at the hospital or health system level. First, the crisis created challenges, such as the removal of program champions and a new focus on revenue-generating programs. Second, there were on-going vulnerabilities that the crisis revealed but that had not previously posed a threat to program viability. These included problems such as insufficient support from physicians and nursing leaders and limited documentation of program outcomes. Results suggest that, to protect against closure, clinical programs need to prepare for major crises at the hospital or health system level by ensuring support from multiple senior champions, with a special emphasis on nursing and physician leaders.