About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Coping and support
By Mayo Clinic staffA person with delirium may require a long period of recovery either in a care facility or at home. People with dementia or a terminal illness or those approaching the end of life are at particularly high risk of delirium.
If you are a relative or caregiver of a person recovering from delirium or at risk of delirium, you can take steps to improve the person's health, prevent a recurrence and help you manage your responsibilities.
Sleeping well
You can promote good sleep habits with the following tips:
- Keep inside lighting appropriate for the time of day.
- Encourage exercise and activity during the day.
- Offer warm, soothing, noncaffeinated beverages before bedtime.
Staying calm and well oriented
The following tips can help a person with delirium or at risk of delirium to remain calm and well oriented:
- Provide a clock and calendar and refer to them regularly throughout the day.
- Communicate simply about any change in activity, such as time for lunch or time for bed.
- Keep familiar and favorite objects around but avoid a cluttered environment.
- Approach the person calmly.
- Identify yourself or other people regularly.
- Avoid arguments.
- Keep noise levels and other distractions to a minimum.
- Help the person keep a regular daytime schedule.
- Maintain and provide eyeglasses and hearing aids.
Preventing complicating problems
Help prevent medical problems by:
- Giving the person his or her medication on a regular schedule
- Providing plenty of fluids and a healthy diet
- Encouraging regular exercise and activity
Caring for the caregiver
If you are providing regular care for a person with delirium or at risk of delirium, you may consider support groups, educational materials or other resources offered by nonprofit organizations, community health services and government agencies.
Organizations that may benefit you include the National Family Caregivers Association, the Alzheimer's Association and the National Institute on Aging.
- Delirium. In: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV-TR. 4th ed. Arlington, Va.: American Psychiatric Association; 2000. http://www.psychiatryonline.com. Accessed Dec. 8, 2009.
- Inouye SK. Delirium in older persons. New England Journal of Medicine. 2006;354:1157.
- Gleason OC. Delirium. American Family Physician. 2003;67:1027.
- Saxena S, et al. Delirium in the elderly: A clinical review. Postgraduate Medical Journal. 2009;85:405.
- Francis J, et al. Diagnosis of delirium and confusional states. http://www.uptodate.com/index.html. Accessed Dec. 8, 2009.
- Potter J, et al. The prevention, diagnosis and management of delirium in older people: Concise guidelines. Clinical Medicine. 2006;6:303.
Find Mayo Clinic on