Inouye and colleagues26 and Rubin a

Inouye and colleagues26 and Rubin and colleagues30 reviewed the effectiveness of the HELP program by looking at how HELP influenced risk factors and delirium. In these studies, the HELP program met its main goal of maintaining physical and cognitive function in geriatric patients. HELP resulted in a lower incidence of delirium, a lower number of total days with delirium, and a lower number of episodes of delirium. HELP also had a positive effect on the presence of risk factors in patients. When HELP patients were reassessed after 5 days of hospitalization or at discharge (whichever occurred first), they were found to have less cognitive impairment, less sleep deprivation and less use of sedative drugs, less immobility, more vision and hearing corrected patients, and less dehydration.26 These findings showed positive trends; however, only the findings for cognitive impairment and sleep deprivation and use of sedative drugs were statistically significant.26