Abstract
BackgroundIndividuals experiencing chronic illnesses face many physical, emotional, and social strains as a result of their illnesses, all the while trying to navigate unfamiliar territory in the healthcare system. Navigation is a strategy that can help people facing complex care needs and barriers to care in finding and accessing needed supports in the health care system. Navigators provide a patient-centred service, guiding individuals through their care plans and overcoming barriers to care. Navigation supports for individuals experiencing complex care needs have shown significant promise and have been gaining traction across Canada.MethodsThe Canadian Healthcare Navigation Conference was the first event of its kind in Canada to bring together navigation researchers, service providers, students, decision makers, and individuals with lived experience to share lessons learned, promising practices, and research findings. This event was co-hosted by the Family Navigation Project at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and NaviCare/SoinsNavi at the University of New Brunswick, and took place virtually on April 15–16, 2021.ResultsThis event spanned two days, which both began with a keynote address, one from a researcher and medical professional in navigation, and another from an individual with lived experience involved in advocacy in Canadian healthcare. Concurrent oral presentations by a variety of presenters were held following each keynote presentation. A poster session was held at the end of the first day, and a panel presentation rounded out the second day. Concurrent and poster presentations covered a range of topics pertaining to approaches to navigation, navigator roles, evaluation and quality improvement, lived experience in navigation, and navigation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The panel presentation focused on identifying how the navigation field has progressed in Canada and identifying crucial next steps in navigation. These next steps were determined to be: 1) agreement on navigation-related definitions, 2) regulation and training, 3) equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility, 4) integrating lived experience, and 5) regional coordination.ConclusionThis conference was an important first step to creating a shared national conversation about navigation services so that we can continue to develop, implement, and share best evidence and practices in the field.
Highlights
Individuals experiencing chronic illnesses face many physical, emotional, and social strains as a result of their illnesses, all the while trying to navigate unfamiliar territory in the healthcare system
Since its first introduction in breast cancer care, navigation has been applied to diverse populations with chronic illnesses, such as other cancers and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) [2, 3] where evidence suggests navigation can improve screening rates as well as access and adherence to treatment [4]
While navigation programs have shown significant promise and recently gained traction across Canada [10, 11], the majority of evidence to date has emerged from the United States [12]
Summary
Individuals experiencing chronic illnesses face many physical, emotional, and social strains as a result of their illnesses, all the while trying to navigate unfamiliar territory in the healthcare system. Oral and poster presentations covered a range of topics, including: reporting research findings on navigator roles and navigation nomenclature in various systems/fields; literature reviews; research and evaluation outcomes of navigation supports; theoretical considerations in navigation approaches; developing navigator training; development and features of navigation programs; and family caregiver experiences and needs.
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