Online tool tackles delirium, a $1bn health care problem

Research led by Southern Cross University has promising results for effectively responding to delirium, a $1bn problem in the health care system.

A partnership to respond to the $1 billion health care problem of delirium. From left, nurse Erin Davis, carer Kate Siffleet and Southern Cross University associate professor Christina Aggar.

A new online tool has been found to make an impact on a key issue facing carers of elderly people – distinguishing between delirium, which can be treated and is potentially reversible, and dementia which is not.

International research led by Southern Cross University has found that the PREDICT online tool (standing for Prevention and Early Delirium Identification Carer Toolkit) can significantly increase a family carer’s knowledge of delirium.

Delirium and dementia have similar impact on a patient’s mental functions – for example confusion, agitation and delusions – but delirium comes on quickly and is a stress response which can be caused by a urinary tract infection or pneumonia, or it can occur after surgery.

Lead investigator Christina Aggar, an associate professor of nursing at SCU, said that delirium was the “number one hospital-acquired complication in Australia, costing our healthcare system more than a billion dollars a year”.

The PREDICT tool helps family carers to understand delirium and Dr Aggar said that because carers know the patient they are well-placed to recognise subtle changes which are signs of delirium.

“PREDICT supports family carers to understand delirium and make sense of their predicament. Having gained knowledge about delirium, carers can partner with nurses to address risk and implement strategies to prevent and manage delirium,” Dr Aggar said.

“We know that education is key, but we’ve never used education to support our family carers to actually partner with healthcare professionals in the prevention of delirium.”

The SCU-led research, which has been published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, was a joint project also involving the University of the Sunshine Coast, the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, the University of Canberra and the Northern NSW Local Health District.

Alison Craswell from the University of the Sunshine Coast said the involvement of the team of researchers improved the PREDICT tool.

“This project has brought together a team of experts working with lived experience consumers, who have all cared for others, to make sure the toolkit is fit for purpose,” Dr Craswell said.

The research team is now seeking funding for a larger trial of PREDICT at hospitals around Australia.