Behind the Scenes — August 2017

Duke $600,000 Endowment Grant Awarded for Lay Patient Navigation!

by Mary King

Congratulations to Jean Sellers, RN, MSN, clinical administrative director at UNC Cancer Network, and Thomas Shea, MD, Associate Director for Outreach Programs at the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and Director of the UNC Cancer Network, on being awarded a three-year $600,000 grant to establish the UNC Lay Patient Navigation Program in 10 sites throughout North Carolina.

While patient navigation may be relatively new in the health care industry, it is not new to UNC Lineberger.  In 2007, Sellers and Shea began working to develop models of navigation to improve cancer outcomes at Mission Cancer Care in Ashville, Leo Jenkins Cancer Center in Greenville and Dare County.  As a result, an innovative model of lay navigation has emerged.  The model is resource-efficient and integrates trained volunteers into the existing health care system to work in tandem with oncology nurse navigators.  It enables more complex care to be provided by the oncology nurse while the lay patient navigator would facilitate improved support and access to information. 
“This award reflects the years of hard work and commitment that Jean has spent improving cancer care across the State. It is truly a milestone event in the dissemination of an important new care model to multiple sites at one time and could not have happened without the funding from The Duke Endowment,” said Dr. Shea.

North Carolina has a high number of uninsured and underinsured patients with low health literacy, who are particularly vulnerable to inadequacies in the current cancer care model.  Research is showing that well designed programs of patient navigation are effective in cost and improving health outcomes.  The model encourages collaboration, cooperation and innovation among professionals and volunteers that increases cancer support services while decreasing economic and emotional hardship for our patients.  This is especially true for the vulnerable and medically underserved populations.  The quality and uniqueness of this program (as well as its potential to provide an exportable model that provides real value to our patients) led to its recognition by the Oncology Advisory Board as one of three best practices in the US in March 2016.
The current effort is planned for ten sites that include both large academic centers as well as smaller community-based hospitals. It is anticipated that this program will lay the foundation for centers across the state to develop their own Lay Navigation programs to help patients and caregivers overcome a variety of the challenges that they face when dealing with their illness.

For additional information see: https://unclineberger.org/unclcn/patient-navigation/nurse-navigation-history/