Effectiveness of Lay Navigators in Meeting Cancer Patients' Non-Clinical Needs: A Pilot Study

The Stanford Cancer Center is undertaking a Transformation Initiative in order to improve the quality of care and care coordination across the continuum of care. The newest innovation is to introduce lay navigators to specified high-need patients. The larger goal of the project is to assess whether lay navigators can address non-clinical patient needs in a timely fashion and appropriately connect them with their clinical team when warranted. It is expected that proactive interaction with patients will decrease patient anxiety/stress related to their cancer and facilitate higher patient engagement and improved management of physical, social,and emotional health. For the pilot project, the smaller goal is to understand: how lay navigator time is used; the types and frequency of issues brought up by patients; resources that patients are given or referred to; type and frequency of mode of contact with patients; and patients' acceptance of navigators based on refusal. An electronic intake form will be used to collect this information so that data can be analyzed regularly to inform changes to the navigator program as needed.