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. 2025 Jul 1;54(7):afaf196.
doi: 10.1093/ageing/afaf196.

The challenges of rehabilitation and delirium trials in the current NHS landscape: learning from the RecoverED feasibility trial

Louise M Allan  1 , Abigail O'Connell  2 , Rowan H Harwood  3 , Alison Bingham  2 , Abigail Laverick  4 , Kirstie Chandler  2 , Shruti Raghuraman  4 , Obi Ukoumunne  2 , Thomas Andrew Jackson  5 , Sarah Joanna Richardson  6 , Rob Anderson  7 , Rachel Litherland  8 , Lesley Collier  2 , Victoria A Goodwin  9 , Sarah Morgan-Trimmer  1 , Annie Hawton  2 , Elizabeth Goodwin  2 , Linda Clare  1
Affiliations

The challenges of rehabilitation and delirium trials in the current NHS landscape: learning from the RecoverED feasibility trial

Louise M Allan et al. Age Ageing. .

Abstract

There is a great need for more high-quality rehabilitation and delirium research and the National Health Service (NHS) should be well placed to deliver such research. This commentary discusses the challenges we faced in delivering a feasibility trial of a rehabilitation intervention aimed at supporting recovery from delirium. We found a number of challenges including identifying therapy teams, delays in study set up, difficulty in identification and recruitment of participants, staff capacity to undertake the research and site selection. As a result of identifying these challenges we propose some recommendations as opportunities to improve the delivery of rehabilitation research in the future. These are: development of research capacity amongst therapy staff; optimising delirium screening to improve patient care and research opportunities; and greater creativity and innovation between funders and researchers to improve recruitment of frail older people with cognitive impairment to research.

Keywords: NHS; learning; older people; rehabilitation; trials.

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Conflict of interest statement

None declared.

References

    1. Allan L, O’Connell A, Raghuraman S et al. A rehabilitation intervention to improve recovery after an episode of delirium in adults over 65 years (RecoverED): study protocol for a multi-centre, single-arm feasibility study. Pilot Feasibility Stud 2023;9:162. 10.1186/s40814-023-01387-y. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Shenkin SD, Fox C, Godfrey M et al. Delirium detection in older acute medical inpatients: a multicentre prospective comparative diagnostic test accuracy study of the 4AT and the confusion assessment method. BMC Med 2019;17:138. 10.1186/s12916-019-1367-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed