Non-pharmacological interventions for managing delirium: the role of occupational therapists in the intensive care unit

Abstract

Delirium is an acute neurological disorder frequently observed in patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit, characterized by transient changes in consciousness and cognition, generally for a short period of time. The objective of this research was to identify and categorize non-pharmacological occupational therapeutic interventions for the management of delirium in adult individuals treated at the intensive care center of a highly complex public teaching hospital. Through a qualitative, retrospective, applied study, based on documentary analysis, with an exploratory descriptive character, sociodemographic variables, diagnoses, information on assessments and occupational therapeutic interventions for the non-pharmacological management of delirium and outcome of the cases of 26 individuals. The majority of the sample was composed of males, with the predominant age group of 25-44 years and almost half had completed elementary school II. Most hospitalizations were due to traumatic urgencies. Of the most prevalent occupational therapeutic interventions in non-pharmacological management, the following stand out: temporal and spatial orientation; environmental organization and positioning; affective touch and welcoming and the naming, function and orientation of the devices respectively. Twenty-two non-pharmacological interventions for managing delirium were identified and categorized.