Client Navigation Evaluation Begins
Cancer Care Nova Scotia is evaluating its patient navigation system to objectively measure its impact.
Patient navigation was established to enhance cancer care for Nova Scotians. The program allows a "navigator" to work closely with family doctors, cancer specialists, cancer patients and their families to improve access to and co-ordination of treatment, follow-up and support services.
The evaluation will be conducted in the three sites that were chosen to first implement the program: South West Health, Pictou County Health Authority and Guysborough Antigonish Strait Health Authority. The process will begin on Wednesday, June 18 and be complete in November 2003.
"From the beginning, we knew that patient navigation was making a difference," said Sandra Cook, patient navigation project manager of Cancer Care Nova Scotia. "Since its launch in the three health districts in February 2002, navigators have helped over 650 patients. The evaluation will provide information that is critical to making allocation decisions about how we spend our health dollars."
The evaluation process will include focus group discussions with patients, family members and community partners who have used the service. Interviews will also be conducted with patients, physicians and other health professionals. The review is designed to learn how navigation has helped people deal with their cancer diagnosis and to determine how the program can be strengthened.
"We're particularly interested in measuring the impact that navigation has had on the development, organization and use of cancer services in the three early adopter districts," said Ms Cook. "We hope the answers to these questions will identify areas that should be considered as navigation is phased into the remaining health districts."
The evaluation will clarify the role of the patient navigator and best approaches for improving co-ordination and continuity of care. It will determine the effectiveness of the processes used to date and measure the impact of navigation on patients, families, and health professionals.
The evaluation process being used was reviewed and endorsed by a team of experts from Nova Scotia and across the country. The team included Dr. Roy Cameron, Director, Centre for Behavioural Research and Program Evaluation (CBRPE) at the University of Waterloo; Dr. Sharon Campbell, associate director, CBRPE; Dr. Lorna Butler, associate professor, Dalhousie University and cross-appointed to the faculty of medicine; Dr. Margaret Fitch, co-ordinator of supportive care, Cancer Care Ontario; and Susan Logue, chief policy, planning and legislation officer for the Nova Scotia Department of Health.
The contract for evaluation of patient navigation was awarded to Corporate Research Associates, following a competitive bidding process.
Patient navigation is the result of extensive consultation with cancer patients, family members, health professionals, community organizations and volunteers in Nova Scotia.
Cancer Care Nova Scotia is a program of the Department of Health, created to reduce the burden of cancer on individuals, families, and the health-care system through prevention, screening, education and research.