'Just a delirium': a qualitative study of care home managers' perspectives on barriers to delirium recognition and management in UK care homes.
Delirium is a common but frequently under-recognised neuropsychiatric syndrome in care homes, especially among residents living with dementia. Delirium is associated with substantial morbidity, mortality and preventable healthcare complications, yet evidence on how it is recognised and managed in re...
| Published in: | Age & Ageing Vol. 55; no. 3; pp. 1 - 8 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
| Format: | Article |
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Oxford University Press / USA
Mar2026
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=192797125&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 192797125 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00020729 AGA jtl: Age & Ageing issn: 00020729 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Mar2026 vid: 55 iid: 3 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 192797125 10.1093/ageing/afag056 ppf: 1 ppct: 7 formats: tig: atl: 'Just a delirium': a qualitative study of care home managers' perspectives on barriers to delirium recognition and management in UK care homes. aug: au: Russell, Olivia J Ameen-Ali, Kamar E Flynn, Angela C Barnes, Sarah Ferguson, Jennifer Divers, Andrew Newbury-Birch, Dorothy Eberhardt, Judith Young, John S Krishnan, Mani Santhana affil: Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4AX, England, UKSchool of Health and Life Sciences, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, TS1 3BX, England, UK School of Health and Life Sciences, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, TS1 3BX, England, UK School of Population Health, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin 2, D02 YN77, Ireland Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S1 4DA, England, UK School of Social Sciences, Humanities & Law, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, TS1 3BX, England, UK Lustrum Vale, Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, Durham Road, Stockton-on-Tees, TS19 0EA, England, UK su: England United Kingdom Medical quality control Qualitative research Interprofessional relations Nursing care facilities Diagnosis of delirium Judgment sampling Thematic analysis Attitudes of medical personnel Delirium Data analysis software Residential care Dementia patients sug: subj: Medical quality control Qualitative research Interprofessional relations Nursing care facilities England United Kingdom Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities) Community care facilities for the elderly Other Residential Care Facilities Diagnosis of delirium Judgment sampling Thematic analysis Attitudes of medical personnel Delirium Data analysis software Residential care Dementia patients keyword: care homes copyrightHolder:British Geriatrics Society copyrightYear:2026 delirium https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afag056 inLanguage:en internship and residency medical residencies older people publisher:Oxford University Press qualitative research qualitative study sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41848758/ thematic analysis care homes copyrightHolder:British Geriatrics Society copyrightYear:2026 delirium https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afag056 inLanguage:en internship and residency medical residencies older people publisher:Oxford University Press qualitative research qualitative study sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41848758/ thematic analysis ab: Delirium is a common but frequently under-recognised neuropsychiatric syndrome in care homes, especially among residents living with dementia. Delirium is associated with substantial morbidity, mortality and preventable healthcare complications, yet evidence on how it is recognised and managed in residential care remains limited. This qualitative study explored care home managers' perspectives on delirium care within privately owned care homes in a region of England, UK, and data analysed thematically to identify key challenges and opportunities for improvement. Three overarching themes were identified: (1) Recognising and Responding to Delirium described how detection often relied on staff familiarity with residents' usual behaviour, with limited use of formal assessment tools and frequent difficulty distinguishing delirium from dementia, particularly in hypoactive presentations. (2) Systemic Barriers to Quality Care highlighted the impact of chronic underfunding, fragmented communication at hospital discharge, unclear clinical responsibility and limited access to training and clinical support. (3) Collaborative Care and Support Networks captured the role of families and external professionals in delirium management, with variable communication, inconsistent validation of care home concerns and challenges coordinating care across services. In response to these challenges, we recommend co-produced delirium education for care staff, clearer clinical pathways and stronger interprofessional collaboration to ensure that delirium is recognised and treated as a potentially life-threatening medical emergency. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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