Identifying the Deteriorating Resident

On this page:

Stop and Watch tool

Spict tool

PACOP

ACEBAC training

Other resources

There are several tools and resources to assist in identifying when a persons’ health is deteriorating. More resources can be found in the Education, Training and Resources page.

Stop and Watch – Early warning communication system

This is an early warning communication system that Personal Care Attendants (PCAs) or other Residential aged care home staff can use to alert a nurse if they notice something different about a resident’s condition during their daily care routine.

Click here to access the ‘Stop and Watch’ alert tool.

The SPICT Tool – Identifying resident decline

This tool aims to make it easier for everyone to recognise and talk about signs that a resident’s overall health may be declining.

Palliative Aged Care Outcomes Program (PACOP)

PACOP provides a range of resources for a RACH to identify and document changes to a residents’ status and strategies to escalate and manage these changes. Visit the website to find out more.

ACEBAC training

Developed to recognise and report changes in health.

This education and training package has been developed by the Australian Centre for Evidence Based Aged Care (ACEBAC).

These eight modules (10 hours) package is for personal care assistants (PCAs) to support PCAs to recognise changes in a resident’s health status and report those changes appropriately. The package is interactive and engaging. It utilises adult learning principles and can be completed at a pace to suit the learner.

Other resources

  • Better lives for residents through innovative education (BERTIE) is available on the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission website and is available to workers under registered providers for free. Check with your organisation is you are registered. More information can be found here.
  • PalliAGED have resources for recognising and managing deterioration.