Use of a Novel Digital Therapeutic Intervention for the Management of Delirium in the Acute Care Environment

Use of a Novel Digital Therapeutic Intervention for the Management of Delirium in the Acute Care Environment

Delirium is a condition of fluctuating confusion and agitation that affects as many as 80% of patients in critical care. Hyperactive delirium consumes a significant amount of clinical attention and resources due to the associated psychomotor agitation. Patients can become aggressive or combative putting both themselves and healthcare workers at risk of harm. Delirium has been linked to an increased risk of death and poor overall outcomes. Management largely relies on the use of potentially toxic medications and physical restraints despite limited proof of success of these interventions. Our research group will study the use of a novel interactive digital therapeutic behavior modification platform aimed at reducing anxiety and agitation associated with hyperactive delirium. We hypothesize that Use of the Mindful Garden behavioral modification platform will result in normalization of agitation and delirium scores when used for the management of delirium associated agitation in the adult delirious acute care population compared to standard care alone.

Mindful Garden is a digital behavior modification platform that utilizes screen based delivery systems and sensor technologies. Mindful Garden delivers real 2-dimensional nature video layered with hyper-real 3-dimensional animations of growing and receding flowers and butterflies in flight which aims to reduce anxiety and agitation in the delirious critical care population. In doing so, normalization of agitation and delirium scores may be achieved as well as a reduction in reliance on pharmacological interventions and the use of physical restraints, which have been linked to adverse outcomes and significant side effects.

Participants with a diagnosis of hyperactive delirium in acute care inpatient units will be randomized to receive 4 hours of exposure to the MG platform in addition to standard care or to the control arm of monitoring with standard care only for the same time period.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adult (age >18yrs)
• Admitted to the Royal Columbian Hospital
• RASS +1 or greater for 2 assessments 1 hour apart within the 24-hour period directly prior to study enrollment and persisting at the time of enrollment
• Demonstrated incidence of at least 2 PRN medication events for the management of delirium-associated agitation in the preceding 24 hours and/or infusion of psycho- active medication for the management of delirium (eg: dexmeditomodine)
• ICDSC greater than or equal to 4 at time of enrollment or CAM positive

Exclusion Criteria:

• Planned procedure or test that precludes participation in the full 4-hour study session
• Unable to see (visual impairment such as documented blindness, ongoing inability to keep eyes open or documented or assessed inability to focus, track or maintain visual contact for extended periods as determined by recruitment personnel)
• Significant uncontrolled pain with a Verbal Pain scale of 5/10 or greater or a Clinical Pain Observation Tool >4 despite intervention at the time of enrollment.
• RASS of 0 to -5 at study enrollment indicating patient is awake and calm or sedated
• Refusal for participation by the participant's responsible physician or request to not retain data by participants substitute decision maker
• Currently enrolled in any other research study involving drugs or devices which could impact on the outcomes of interest, as evaluated by the Principal Investigator