Articles on delirium care, science and lived experience

Delirium Words is a blog by Alasdair MacLullich, Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, with occasional guest authors. It covers delirium care, clinical assessment, research, policy and lived experience.

Written for doctors, nurses and other health professionals, for educators and researchers, and for anyone who wants to understand delirium in depth.

Try: 4ATward roundfamiliesCAM-Lite

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Three articles that give a good first view of the site.

  1. Care, treatment and recovery

    Guide to delirium care

    The basics of delirium care in adults: detection, treatment and prevention.

  2. Care, treatment and recovery

    The patient still has delirium – what should we do today?

    A practical approach to reviewing a patient who still has delirium, day by day.

  3. Patients, families and lived experience

    The Forest of Revolving Nightmares: a personal account of experiencing delirium

    A personal account of experiencing delirium, and of the people who helped.

    By Dr Sharmella Summan

All articles

12 articles, newest first. Show them with summaries

2026

  1. The patient still has delirium – what should we do today? An approach to the delirium ward round.

    Care, treatment and recovery

  2. New confusion has a name: why I built Delirium Support

    Patients, families and lived experience

2025

  1. The CAM-Lite: Why this Unofficial Delirium Screening Tool Falls Dangerously Short

    Assessment and diagnosis

  2. The Forest of Revolving Nightmares: a personal account of experiencing delirium

    Patients, families and lived experience By Dr Sharmella Summan

2021

  1. Guide to delirium care

    Care, treatment and recovery

2020

  1. Is your hospital delirium-sensitive?

    Prevention and implementation

  2. 10 reasons why we should detect delirium

    Assessment and diagnosis

  3. A classification of delirium assessment tools

    Assessment and diagnosis

  4. Delirium diagnosis in the patient who is too sleepy to speak

    Assessment and diagnosis

  5. We should always inform families of a patient’s diagnosis of delirium

    Patients, families and lived experience

  6. A big gap in the delirium literature: data on clinical implementation

    Research, policy and systems

  7. Delirium detection in routine clinical care: two basic processes

    Prevention and implementation

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Articles grouped by subject.

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Free writing from Alasdair MacLullich on delirium, dementia and better care, with occasional book and resource updates.

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More from Alasdair MacLullich

Book for families, October 2026

Delirium (Acute Confusion): A Family Guide to Sudden Changes in Thinking and Memory

By Alasdair MacLullich and Sharmella Summan. Chapter 1 is free: give an email address on the book site and a link to the PDF is emailed to you.

Read Chapter 1 free