At Caboolture Hospital, family members and close friends are being brought more directly into the care of older patients through a national trial aimed at preventing delirium and recognising its warning signs sooner.
The hospital began implementing the Prevention and Early Delirium Identification Carer Toolkit, known as PREDICT, on 16 June across six medical wards.
The nurse-led program gives carers practical resources to identify changes in a patient’s thinking, awareness or behaviour and report those concerns to healthcare staff.
Delirium can begin suddenly and may cause confusion, distress or difficulty recognising familiar people. Although it can appear similar to dementia, it is a separate condition and may be missed when subtle changes are attributed to another cause.
Hospital staff may also have limited knowledge of how a patient usually thinks or behaves. Family members, friends and other unpaid carers can provide that context because they are familiar with the person’s normal level of functioning.
How Caboolture Hospital Is Using PREDICT
PREDICT includes educational resources and checklists available through paper, web-based and smartphone formats.
An app allows carers to access the toolkit while on the move, while an online chatbot provides information about possible signs of delirium, prevention measures and ways to respond when symptoms develop.
The resources are intended to help carers communicate changes to nurses and other clinicians rather than diagnose the condition themselves.
Associate Professor Alison Craswell, a University of the Sunshine Coast academic and Visiting Senior Nurse Research Fellow at Caboolture Hospital, has described carers’ knowledge of their loved ones as an important part of early recognition.
Staff education and training have formed part of the implementation across the six participating wards.
National Trial Examines Hospital Outcomes
The toolkit was developed through a Southern Cross University-led project involving the University of the Sunshine Coast and the University of Canberra.
Caboolture and the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital represent Metro North Health in the national trial. The study is already underway through Northern NSW Health and Canberra Health Services, while Gold Coast Health is expected to commence later.
Researchers are evaluating the toolkit’s effectiveness, implementation and cost-benefit through a stepped-wedge cluster randomised controlled trial.
The study will examine carer and staff knowledge of delirium, stress experienced by carers and health service outcomes including delirium incidence, hospital length of stay and readmissions.
PREDICT was developed following a literature review, a co-designed consultation process and a pilot study. Older people, carers, healthcare workers and consumer representatives were involved in shaping the research and reviewing information prepared for participants.
Support Beyond The Hospital Stay
The information provided through PREDICT can also be used after an older patient returns home.
Carers may continue watching for sudden changes in thinking or behaviour and seek support from a GP or another healthcare provider when concerns arise. Earlier recognition may help prevent avoidable hospital admissions, although the national trial is still assessing the toolkit’s outcomes.
The Common Good contributed $30,000 towards the National Health and Medical Research Council partnership grant supporting the research.
Hospital leaders hope the trial will build awareness of delirium and encourage healthcare workers to respond when carers report changes in an older patient’s usual behaviour or thinking.
Published 9-July-2026
Photo Credit: Pexels
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