Patient navigators provide personal guidance for patients who are faced with daunting health challenges. These competent and compassionate professionals may well be lifesaving and, at the least, very comforting for you.
Typically, but not always, patient navigators are nurses. Some navigators have experienced similar diseases. Most often we associate this professional service with coaching a patient through cancer diagnosis and treatment.
However, patient navigators are also very helpful in caring for patients with complicated chronic illnesses spanning from childhood adversities to geriatric management. These diseases may include diabetes, congestive heart failure, neurological illnesses, and other degenerative sicknesses.
The concept of a navigator was originally developed about 25 years ago in response to a disproportionate number of African American women in Harlem, New York, who were diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer. On closer examination, these women had not been encouraged to have a routine mammography, were stunned when diagnosed, and didn’t have easy access to cancer care services. Consequently, these unfortunate women did not make good choices about selecting the best care plan and persevering through the full treatment.
A new cancer diagnosis or comparable serious illness produces a myriad of overwhelming emotional responses including shock, denial, anxiety, fear, grief, and depression. As bad as the unwelcome news is, the impact can be made better or worse by one’s personal reaction and support system. The role of the care navigator is to help overcome the paralyzing emotional response and develop a support network for the challenged patient and family during this new and uninvited experience.
Today’s complicated diagnostic and treatment regimens are challenging even in the best of circumstances which rarely exist. Normally, all sorts of challenges in understanding the diagnosis, treatment, and healthcare system prevail. Unfortunately, medical care isn’t a unified system but a group of nearby, well-meaning, and competent caregivers. These caregivers have their own challenges including time limitations, financial constraints, and environmental uncertainty.
Directing patients who are frozen with fear and stuck in denial to a better path is the noble professional goal of the patient navigator. Understanding the system and overcoming its barriers improves the outcome for both patients and their caregivers.
The organized team helps particularly with the “ups and downs” typical of chronic illnesses, which cancer and other degenerative diseases have become due to more effective modern treatments. Targeted coordination, social service assistance, psychological care, logistical support, family aid, and comprehensive education all contribute to better outcomes with lower use of limited resources.
Everyone would like to live a long, happy, and healthy life. Prevention works best but not always. Therefore, navigating a complex disease and system with help makes perfect sense.