In inpatient palliative care settings, delirium prevalence increases from 13–42% on admission to 88% in the last weeks–hours of life. Delirium causes significant morbidity, including increased frequency of falls, increased cognitive and functional impairment, and significant patient and family psychological distress, and is associated with increased mortality.

Although antipsychotics are commonly used in the management of delirium in palliative care patients, recent research evidence in mild- to moderate-severity delirium suggests that antipsychotics are associated with both increased delirium symptoms and reduced patient survival.

While non-pharmacological delirium strategies should intuitively be an integral part of quality patient care, their role in the management of delirium in the palliative care context is unclear; outcome evidence in terms of their effectiveness in this patient population is still required.