Delirium Clinical Care Standard

ANZSGM has endorsed the updated Delirium Clinical Care Standard, which was launched at the Australasian Delirium Association Conference, ‘DECLARED 2021’, by Associate Professor Gideon Caplan, President of the Australasian Delirium Association.

With one in four older medical patients affected, an updated national clinical care standard to improve care for people at risk of delirium – a serious and often preventable condition – has been applauded by healthcare professionals.

The COVID-19 pandemic has sharpened the focus on delirium for hospitalised patients, their families, carers and healthcare professionals.

Delirium is a sudden change in a person’s mental state. Patients with delirium may seem confused, disorientated and agitated, or quiet and withdrawn. The condition affects 50% or more adult intensive care patients[i], and up to one quarter (23%) of older patients in general medical settings.

There is growing evidence that delirium is more prevalent among hospitalised COVID-19 patients, and a common presenting symptom in older patients with COVID-19.

First released in 2016, the clinical care standard aims to prevent delirium in at-risk patients, and improve the early diagnosis and treatment of patients with delirium.

Commission Clinical Director, Dr Carolyn Hullick, an emergency medicine physician with a special interest in aged care, said the seriousness of delirium as a medical condition is still not always recognised, yet outcomes for people with delirium can be improved with the right care pathways.

“The clinical care standard encourages the early recognition of people who are most at risk of delirium, so that steps can be taken to reduce their risk. It also encourages healthcare workers to be alert to changes in behaviour that may be due to delirium,” she said.

Download the Delirium Clinical Care Standards here.