Launch of the Irish Delirium Society

The Irish Delirium Society (IDS) was recently launched at a conference, hosted by the University of Limerick's Centre for Interventions in Infection, Inflammation & Immunity (4i),  that brought together researchers from Ireland and across Europe who are focused on understanding the psychiatric and physiological elements contributing to patient delirium. The launch of the IDS was marked by a keynote lecture entitled "Delirium: Bridging the gap from bench to bedside" by Professor Colm Cunningham of Trinity College Dublin's Centre for Neuroscience (National Neuroscience network).
 
Professor David Meagher, Foundation Chair of Psychiatry at the GEMS and a Principal Investigator at the 4i Centre, commented at the launch of the new Society, saying "Delirium is an extremely common condition that is encountered across healthcare settings and that is associated with serious negative consequences for patients such as loss of independence, persistent cognitive problems and elevated mortality risk. Establishing an Irish Delirium Society highlights how interest has reached a critical level that warrants a platform for promoting better clinical care and supporting collaborative research effort. It is very exciting that we have delirium research occurring in centres across the country and involving a broad range of specialists from elderly medicine, psychiatry, palliative and intensive care as well as internationally ground breaking research at a basic science level".
 
Professor Colum Dunne, Director of the 4i Centre, described the launch of the Society as being important and added "Delirium is a common psychiatric syndrome that often occurs as sudden deterioration in attention, memory, and behaviour. The Cognitive Impairment Research Group within the 4i Centre, led by Professor Meagher, has focused on developing novel diagnostic tools and interventions for this condition, and has secured financial support from the Irish Health Research Board and the All Ireland Institute for Hospice and Palliative Care. The importance and relevance of this work, and of the Irish Delirium Society, were emphasised by Dr Alessandro Morandi and Professor Giuseppe Belleli from the University of Milan who presented a critical review of European-wide delirium care to the conference. We hope that the Irish Delirium Society will provide a forum for researchers to present their work and will provide an increased impetus for research in this area. "
 
The Centre for Interventions in Infection, Inflammation & Immunity brings together a multidisciplinary team of researchers focused on developing studies that impact health outcomes.