Delirium occurs frequently in hospitalized older adults, especially after a major surgical procedure. Delirium prevention in hospitalized older adults involves multicomponent nonpharmacologic interventions, such as the Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP), that target delirium risk factors. Through HELP, hospitalized older adults are assessed for their risk for developing delirium, and protocols addressing the delirium risk factors are followed. These HELP intervention protocols are often carried out by trained hospital volunteers and address patients’ orientation, nutrition, hydration, sleep, and mobility. Although shown to reduce delirium rates (ie, 15% delirium in the usual care group vs 9.9% in the HELP intervention),¹ implementation of HELP faces barriers of cost, staffing, and culture in some health care systems.

谵妄经常发生在住院的老年人中，尤其是在大手术后。住院老年人的谵妄预防涉及多种非药物干预措施，例如针对谵妄危险因素的医院老年生活计划 (HELP)。通过 HELP，对住院老年人发生谵妄的风险进行评估，并遵循解决谵妄风险因素的协议。这些 HELP 干预协议通常由经过培训的医院志愿者执行，涉及患者的定向、营养、水合作用、睡眠和活动能力。尽管已证明可降低谵妄发生率（即，常规护理组中 15% 的谵妄与 HELP 干预中的 9.9%），¹ 在某些医疗保健系统中，实施 HELP 面临成本、人员配备和文化方面的障碍。