Patient navigator research program: Eliminating barriers to timely delivery of cancer diagnosis and treatment services.

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Inequities in cancer outcomes in minority populations result from healthcare barriers specific to the local communities and the broader system. Barriers are multiple and can span a variety of issues and programs of care. The patient navigator program has been proposed as a new tool in the effort to close the health disparity gap and to enhance patient support and ensure access to effective health care. The National Cancer Institute with support of the American Cancer Society has funded nine sites as part of the Patient Navigation Research Program (PNRP). The goal of our local Patient Navigator Research Program is to partner with community health centers in the Tampa Bay area to provide navigation services to those who receive a positive screening for breast and colo-rectal cancer. Navigators will be able to tackle the barriers that prevent people in our community from being properly diagnosed and receiving timely and effective treatment. The program is a five year research grant that will occur in three phases. In Phase I, the aim is to work closely with our community partners to conduct formative research for the development of an acceptable, appealing, and appropriate Patient Navigator Program. The aim for Phase II is to conduct a group randomized controlled trial at participating Tampa Bay community health centers and the final phase will be to disseminate the findings from this research outside the Tampa Bay region. To date, the Moffitt Caner Center Patient Navigator Program is in the pilot-testing phase. Three navigators have been hired and of those, two have been nationally trained. 12 patients have been piloted, 11 of which are Spanish speaking and 1 English speaking. Full implementation of the program is scheduled to begin on October 1, 2006. Future plans for the program include measuring additional psychosocial barriers and outcomes and disseminating the program nationally.