Postoperative Delirium Prevention as Standard Practice in Occupational Therapy in Acute Care

Abstract

Postoperative delirium (POD) is common, especially among older adults, and can significantly impact health and rehabilitation outcomes. Research evidence suggests that a multicomponent intervention is most effective for delirium prevention. Given that this intervention includes diverse components, interdisciplinary collaboration among members of the healthcare team is essential. This paper presents how occupational therapists, as part of the interdisciplinary acute care team, contribute to preventing POD and embed their unique value, skills, and strengths in each component of the collaborative intervention. This paper also argues that POD preventive care should be standard practice for occupational therapy in the acute care setting.