title: Navigation and palliative care.
abstract: Patient navigation represents an opportunity to further the integration of palliative care with standard cancer care. This article defines palliative and hospice care and describes some of the current challenges of integrating palliative care into other forms of care. It also considers outcomes that navigation might be expected to improve for patients receiving palliative care or enrolled in hospice. These outcomes include symptom relief; communication efficacy; transitions of care; and access to palliative care, hospice, and bereavement care for families. Although these outcomes may not have been specifically assessed in patients in cancer navigation programs, they represent important outcomes for patients receiving palliative care and their families. It is recognized that the types of outcomes that are important to track for patients and families receiving palliative care should be consistent with outcomes at other stages of illness.
authors.affiliation: Palliative Care Section and Buehler Center on Aging, Health and Society, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 750 N. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60611, USA. j-hauser@northwestern.edu
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hauser
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sileo
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Araneta
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kirk
authors.forename: Jeanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Finn
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Calista
authors.forename: Ercilia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Calcano
authors.forename: Lynda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Thibodaux
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Harney
authors.forename: Kelli
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bass
authors.forename: Mary Kathryn
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Rodrigue
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D017051:Hospice Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011788:Quality of Life; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019452:Terminally Ill; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States