Patient navigation: development of a protocol for describing what navigators do.
OBJECTIVE
To develop a structured protocol for observing patient navigators at work, describing and characterizing specific activities related to their goals.


METHODS
Fourteen extended observations of navigators at three programs within a national trial of patient navigation.


METHODS
Preliminary observations were guided by a conceptual model derived from the literature and expert consensus, then coded to develop and refine observation categories. These findings were then used to develop the protocol.


METHODS
Observation fieldnotes were coded, using both a priori codes and new codes based on emergent themes. Using these codes, the team refined the model and constructed an observation tool that enables consistent categorization of the observed range of navigator actions.


RESULTS
Navigator actions across a wide variety of settings can be categorized in a matrix with two dimensions. One dimension categorizes the individuals and organizational entities with whom the navigator interacts; the other characterizes the types of tasks carried out by the navigators in support of their patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Use of this protocol will enable researchers to systematically characterize and compare navigator activities within and across programs.
Department of Health Policy and Management, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany St. T3W, Boston, MA 02118-2526, USA. vaparker@bu.edu
Victoria A
VA
Parker
Jack A
JA
Clark
Jenniffer
J
Leyson
Elizabeth
E
Calhoun
Jennifer K
JK
Carroll
Karen M
KM
Freund
Tracy A
TA
Battaglia
D019090:Case Management; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D019370:Observation; D012944:Social Support; D009626:Terminology as Topic