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Table 5 Reported outcomes of patient navigation programs

From: Implementation and maintenance of patient navigation programs linking primary care with community-based health and social services: a scoping literature review

Outcomes

Citations

Patient and caregiver outcomes

Positive Outcomes

 Improvements in general health and wellness

  • Reduced unmet needs

[38, 44]

  • Improved quality of life

[23, 44]

  • Improved mental health

[33]

  • Improved activities of daily living

[33]

  • Reduced co-morbidities

[23]

  • Improved understanding of patients’ health conditions and their management

[35, 43]

  • Decreased worries, concerns and stress

[23, 44]

  • Reduced caregiver strain or depressive symptoms

[41, 42]

  • Improved biomarkers for chronic disease (e.g., HbA1c; fewer HIV clients with a detectable viral load

[29, 44]

 Improved self-efficacy, self-management or empowerment

[23, 30, 38, 46, 51].

 Increased patient satisfaction regarding services for themselves or their children

[23, 30, 38, 46, 51].

 Increased access to care:

  • Care overall (i.e., increase in number of patients seen)

[22]

  • A primary care medical home

[23, 51]

  • Timely primary care

[38];

  • Medications

[43]

  • More access to culturally appropriate care

[23, 37, 49]

  • Specialty or sub-specialty care (for children; for AIDS/HIV patients)

[44, 51]

 Better follow up and uptake of screening:

  • Reduced missed medical appointments

[43]

  • For legal counsel

[47]

  • Increased patient encounters and communication with primary care

[8, 23, 33, 44, 46]

  • More mammography or cancer screening according to guidelines

[23, 31]

 Financial, employment, and health claims addressed

  • Increased employment and reduced financial stresses

[33]

  • Reduced numbers of mental health patients who applied for disability benefits, with significantly higher behavioural health claims

[33]

  • Proportion of patients suffering from mental illness who become insured

[23]

  • Patients connected to legal services reported positive impacts on finances and compliance with medical appointments and treatment

[47]

  • More affordable services for working poor

[35]

Neutral or negative outcomes

 Discomfort with male navigators for female breast cancer care, lack of care continuity and poor navigator follow up

[36]

 No differences in employment, hours worked or earnings

[38]

Provider outcomes

 Satisfaction with navigation programs

[30, 41, 46]

 Increased communication among primary care providers and community services or providers

[8, 46, 54, 55]

 Increased knowledge and skills

[47, 48]

 Increased trust between

 

  • Navigators and physicians

[41]

  • Patients and their attorneys

[47]

 Improved care coordination

[47, 55]

 Navigators empowered in their community advocacy role and were promoted in their positions

[30, 37]

Health system outcomes

 Reduction in emergency room and/or hospital use

[28, 29, 43, 45]

 Prevention of premature institutionalization

[52]