Clinical Practice Guidelines

The Canadian Coalition for Seniors' Mental Health sponsored the development of several government-sponsored, interdisciplinary-focused national practice guidelines in 2006, including one for geriatric delirium. It is available free by downloading the document from the website (www.ccsmh.ca). There is also a patient and family information package available there under “Resources”. Vancouver Island Health Authority’s mental health and addiction services also recently developed extensive online resources for practitioners, patients and their family (www.viha.ca/mhas/resources/delirium), including two award-winning DVD’s and many useful links. It contains the links to a 3 part video for the education of patients and their family as posted on YouTube. Also, there are the American Psychiatric Association’s Practice Guidelines for Delirium (1999) and the British Geriatric Society’s Guidelines for Geriatric Delirium (2000). Reviewing guidelines can optimize care delivered by a wide range of health professionals.