Here’s What We Know: How an Oncology Patient Navigator Can Help You

If you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, you likely have questions. Oncology navigators offer answers and more. Also called patient navigators or oncology navigators, these caring experts walk alongside cancer patients throughout their cancer journeys.
“Navigating a complex health-care system can be a barrier to care,” says Dr. Erica Phillips, internal medicine physician at Weill Cornell Medicine, associate director of Community Outreach and Engagement at the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center and co-associate director of Community Engagement at the Cornell Center for Health Equity. “That’s why patient navigators were developed.”

Patient Navigators Break Down Barriers

A key task that oncology patient navigators perform is helping you overcome barriers to receiving cancer care. These health disparities may show up at any point along your care journey, from cancer diagnosis and treatment to recovery and beyond.
A few barriers noted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention include:

• Caring for family. When treatment leads to fatigue and other side effects, managing the needs of children or aging parents can become difficult. Patient navigation services can connect you with caretakers or community resources to support you as you recover.
• Language. You can’t understand a cancer diagnosis or your treatment options if you don’t understand your care team. A navigator can translate complex medical lingo into plain English, if needed. For non-English speakers, a navigator can connect you to translation services, so you can move forward in your care with confidence.
• Transportation. If you don’t have access to reliable transportation, it can be difficult to attend treatment or follow-up appointments. Your cancer navigator can point you to transportation options to ensure you get to every appointment on time.

Your Point of Contact Throughout the Cancer Journey

Today, cancer care relies on a multidisciplinary team to cover all areas of your health—physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. When you have questions or concerns along your journey, your oncology patient navigator can connect you to the right member of your care team. Your navigator can even contact a team member on your behalf.
“Patient navigators are intimately familiar with communities being impacted by increased rates of cancer,” Dr. Phillips says, “because they themselves are from those communities.”
Your navigator speaks your language and empowers you to stay connected and informed in other meaningful ways. A few ways patient navigators do this include:

• Brainstorming questions to ask your care team
• Connecting you to additional health-care providers, including mental health experts, who can help you address the emotional aspects of your care
• Coordinating upcoming appointments
• Identifying and helping you sign up for appropriate support groups in your community or at your local cancer center
• Providing a listening ear and emotional support

Working with an oncology navigator does more than just clear obstacles and explain your diagnosis—it improves your care. Research shows this partnership reduces the time from diagnosis to treatment and helps you stay on track with your treatment plan. By bridging the gap between you and your care team, navigators provide the confidence and support that lead to better outcomes and longer survival.

In Conclusion

A cancer diagnosis brings a lot of questions. With an oncology patient navigator, you can get answers and much more.

1. Oncology navigators can identify and assist in removing obstacles to cancer care, such as lack of transportation or childcare.
2. Your navigator can connect you to your care team and others by helping you think of questions for your care team, reaching out to team members on your behalf and connecting you to a fitting support group.
3. Teaming up with patient navigators increases your likelihood of following the doctor’s orders and experiencing the best possible outcome.

There’s a lot more to learn about cancer care and other areas of medicine. Here’s What We Know so far.