Patient navigation empowers and guides patients to overcome barriers and ensures a seamless, high quality breast health journey in an otherwise fragmented system. Komen’s Patient Navigation Program supporting the Stand for H.E.R. initiative is unique because it is a multifaceted approach. The program connects patients to resources, support and empowers navigators with knowledge, skills and solutions, including a focus on workforce development for Black professionals who want to become patient navigators. In other words, our innovative program is dual focused, both supporting Black people with their health and in their careers.
Komen’s virtual patient navigation training program is designed to teach aspiring Black patient navigators, thereby supporting their ability to enhance their career paths, with higher income potential. Adapted from the George Washington University Cancer Institute’s Oncology Patient Navigator Training, the Komen training is enhanced with Komen-specific modules, including a first of its kind module on navigating racism and bias for Black patients in the healthcare system. Our goal through the end of 2022 is to train 200 Black navigators.
As we create lasting change for Black patient navigators through workforce development, it is also critical that we meet the immediate needs of Black breast cancer patients now, which is why Komen has a growing number of highly trained Black patient navigators on staff who work with Black patients in the 10 U.S. metropolitan cities where late stage diagnoses and mortality are the greatest. The Komen navigators utilize Komen’s vast resource repository and robust wrap around programming, like our financial assistance program, to support Black patients in the targeted metropolitan cities. Our goal is to have a navigator in each of the 10 cities by the end of March 2022.
If you are interested in learning more about the online patient navigation training or joining our next cohort, please contact navigationnation@komen.org.
