Help After Leaving hospiTal (HALT)

Delirium is reported in 20-40% of hospitalised older adults, characterised by acute and fluctuating deficits in arousal and cognition. In Australia, there are over 132,000 occurrences of delirium per year. We have demonstrated that having delirium in hospital is significantly associated with increased cognitive decline, functional decline, incident dementia, institutionalisation and readmission rates, and mortality; along with lower quality of life and mental health. Leaving hospital after delirium signals great risk for poor outcomes in older adults. Funded by The Hospital Research Foundation (2024-5), we have co-produced Help After Leaving hospiTal (HALT), a delirium rehabilitation program that is multidisciplinary, scalable and tailored. We have run focus groups and workshops with health professionals and consumers to co-produce the content and format within a post-hospital discharge and delirium context. The program is a suite of educational and activity resources, facilitated remotely (phone/email) with optional face-to-face and group sessions, designed for older adults 65 years and over who experience delirium in hospital (after they are discharged and well enough to participate). We are looking to test this program from 2026.

Key CAIN Lab members involved: Dr Courtney Davis, Yonas Zeleke, Prof Tobias Loetscher and Prof Hannah Keage