About the project
- reduce hospital acquired delirium in older people (over 65 years) admitted to acute health services
- improve the early identification, escalation of care and improved outcomes for all older people with delirium.
Objectives
- Reduce variation of care in the delirium outcomes for older people.
- Build partnerships and create opportunities for collaboration between regional and metropolitan services.
- Improve screening, diagnosis, management and outcomes for older people at risk of delirium.
Background
Delirium is potentially preventable in more than a third of older people with risk factors. In Victoria there are just over 3,000 people diagnosed with delirium each month, with around 400 of these cases being reported as hospital acquired.
Despite significant efforts across the health system, evidence suggests that delirium remains under-diagnosed. There is also variability in the implementation of evidence-based strategies for the prevention, screening, monitoring and models of care for patients experiencing delirium resulting in poorer outcomes for patients.
Patients who have delirium have higher risk of morbidity, mortality and longer length of stay.
Solution design
The project brings together clinicians, consumers, researchers, data experts, health system leaders and improvement specialists. It will use data and evidence to improve clinical care and patient outcomes.
The intervention design draws on the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare’s Delirium Clinical Care Standard and will focus on:
- prevention
- early identification
- embedding best care pathways into care delivery.
Reducing this hospital acquired complication (HAC) and improving management may also reduce length of stay and potentially other HACs (such as falls).
Project milestones
Activity | Date |
|---|---|
Kick-off session for project leads | 30 April 2025 |
Executive Sponsor and SCV meeting | 26 May 2025 |
Learning Session 1 | 18 June 2025 9:30am -4pm |
Learning Session 2 | October 2025 |
Learning Session 3 | March 2026 |
Progress meeting | September 2026 |
Summative Event | 2027 |
Participating services
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Priority area
This project supports our broader effort to reduce avoidable harm and unnecessary variation in healthcare.