In acute inpatient wards, there is strong evidence that adequate nutrition (Eat), early mobilization (Walk), and meaningful engagement (Engage) reduces incidence of delirium in older adults.
In a multi-center RCT, the implementation of the structured “Eat, walk, engage” program significantly reduced delirium, which typically affects 1 in 4 admitted older adults. While effective for reducing delirium, this program did not affect other hospital-associated outcomes and did not reduce length of stay.
This program is scalable and transferable across different inpatient settings as the results were
seen in both medical and surgical wards across 4 hospitals.
*MDT: Multi-disciplinary team
Reference: Mudge AM, McRae P, Banks M, et al. Effect of a ward-based program on hospital-
associated complications and length of stay for older inpatients: the cluster randomized
CHERISH trial. JAMA Intern Med 2022;182(3):274-282.