Using a Lay Cancer Screening Navigator to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates

Abstract

Introduction: Preventive care is often not performed during the ambulatory office visit due to the acute nature of the visit. One possible strategy is the use of a lay cancer screening navigator using the lay health worker model.Methods: A training program for the lay cancer screening navigator and a patient registry for colorectal cancer screening was developed. The RE-AIM framework was used to evaluate the intervention. Descriptive statistics were generated for patient demographics.

Community Health Workers as Healthcare Navigators in Primary Care Chronic Disease Management: a Systematic Review

“…Study characteristics are summarized in Table 1. Six of the 29 studies had strong methodological quality, [38][39][40][41][42][43][44] 12 moderate, and 11 weak [45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55] (Annex 2). When assessed according to the TIDieR checklist, 24 studies reported procedures, who provided, how, where, and when.…”

“…Of the 13 studies that focused on colorectal cancer, 12 studies noted significant increase in adherence to colorectal cancer screening. 38,39,41,47,48,51,53,59,61,63,64,66 Positive outcomes in screening for multiple cancers such as breast, colorectal, cervical, and prostate were also noted in all the three studies 38,45,66 (with varied mythological qualities) that focused on multiple cancers. Two interventions, one with strong methodological quality 43 and other weak, 49 focused on the time for cancer diagnostic resolution following an abnormal screening result and both reported a significantly shorter time among the navigated participants compared to those without navigation.…”

“…A variety of research designs were reported. Fifteen of the included studies were randomized controlled trials (RCT), 38-44, 47, 48, 50, 54, 56, 59, 62, 64 six were quasi-experimental studies, 49,55,58,61,63,65 four were pre-post, 45,51,57,66 one was an interventional prospective cohort study, 52 one was a retrospective comparative study, 60 and two were mixed method studies. 46,53…”

“…Healthcare navigation roles of CHWs were described through different role titles based on the activities they performed, including patient navigators, 41,43,44,46,47,52,54,55,59,62,63 CHWs, 48,53,57,60,64,65 lay health workers, 40,51 bilingual CHWs, 58,66 Promotoras, 49 care navigators, 50 health navigators, 38,61 screening navigators, 39 indigenous health workers, 56 and peer navigators. 42,45 Recruitment, Training, and Supervision of CHWs…”

Colorectal cancer in the young, many questions, few answers

“…Although this was a feasible strategy for older patients aged 50 to 74 years [71] , it has yet to be determined how effective this strategy would be in younger individuals.…”