Eat Walk Engage – using consumer engagement to guide delirium interventions

Eat Walk Engage team member and patient.

Eat Walk Engage is a state-wide delirium prevention program available on two wards at The Prince Charles Hospital. The program focuses on improving the mobility, cognitive engagement and nutrition and hydration of patients as a way of preventing delirium. Additionally, the program uses consumer feedback to identify opportunities for improving care for the older person.

Through interviews and having informal conversations with patients and family members, improvements were introduced on wards hosting the Eat Walk Engage program such as, having reading glasses available, increasing access to books and activities on the wards, improving patient lounge spaces, and ensuring clocks are visible and accessible in patient rooms to support patient orientation to the day, date and time.

Further to this, sensory impairments such as hearing difficulties place patients at increased risk of developing delirium whilst in hospital. To combat this, the Eat Walk Engage wards now have pocket talkers available for loan to optimise patients hearing and ability to communicate whilst an inpatient.

As one consumer stated, “My hearing aid batteries died on my way here and I didn’t know what I was going to do….I couldn’t hear anything, the nurses and doctors would talk to me, and I would just nod hoping I was nodding to the right things”.

Pocket talkers are an amplifying device used by healthcare staff to help with hearing impairment. This is more important than ever while staff are wearing masks! Pocket talkers are utilised across many of the Eat Walk Engage wards across the state and feedback is very positive.

Since these have been in use, both consumers and staff have spoken about their benefits. One consumer reported, “Before I had this (pocket talker) I couldn’t hear anything…then a nurse brought me this, and now I can hear everything, and I know what my doctors are saying to me. It means I could have a normal conversation and not ask everyone to repeat themselves”.

The pocket talker enables patients with hearing impairment to be more involved in their care, purely by providing the necessity of hearing. This also facilitates staff and social engagement. The Eat Walk Engage program continues to gather patient feedback on the ward and continues to improve hospital experiences for older people to lead consumer driven change.

The Eat Walk Engage program is run across Metro North on wards at The Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, The Prince Charles Hospital, Redcliffe Hospital and Caboolture Hospital.