Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Julie Darnell, MHSA, AM¹, Genevieve M. Birkby, MA¹, Camille R. Quinn, AM², and Elizabeth Calhoun, PhD¹. (1) School of Public Health, Division of Health Policy and Administration, University of Illinois, Chicago, 1603 W. Taylor Street, Room 719, Chicago, IL 60612-4310, 312-996-2712, jdarnell@uic.edu, (2) Service Connector Program, National Able Network, 180 N. Wabash Ave., Suite 600, Chicago, IL 60601

In recent years patient navigation programs have proliferated around the country yet little is known about them and there have been few efforts to evaluate them. Patient navigators assist patients in overcoming barriers to the timely receipt of healthcare services. This research describes a pilot navigation program underway since October 2004 in two African American churches in Chicago, Illinois, and presents findings from a qualitative evaluation of the program using a focus group methodology. The navigation program is one component of a broader CDC-funded REACH 2010 initiative to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in chronic diseases. The navigators are lay individuals from their respective churches. They seek to ensure that women whom they refer for breast and cervical cancer screening services actually receive the mammograms and/or Pap tests. As of February 2006, 265 women have participated in the program. Five focus groups (n=25) were held in November 2005 through February 2006 to evaluate its success. The proceedings were audio-taped and transcribed professionally. To identify themes, two investigators reviewed and coded the transcripts independently. Results revealed that logistical support (e.g., recent contact after referral, assistance with and promptness of scheduling appointments after referral, frequent contact between navigator and patient, reminder calls) and the social skills of the navigator (e.g., a caring and assertive demeanor and perceptiveness in judging the needs of the patient), positively influenced a woman's decision to obtain cancer screening services. These findings suggest concrete actions that navigators can take to improve the likelihood of program participants receiving services.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe a patient navigation program in a faith-based setting.
• Identify the successful components of a patient navigation program and apply them to patient navigator programs in other settings.
• Identify obstacles to receiving cancer screening services and methods to overcome them.

Keywords: Evaluation, Faith Community

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation