Developing a Culturally Informed Patient Navigation Program to Reduce Delays From Diagnosis to Treatment for Native Americans in a Rural Setting

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are evaluating a culturally informed patient navigation program called Community-Focused Patient Navigation (CFPN) to reduce delays between diagnosis and treatment in American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) cancer patients living in rural California. AIAN communities face significant cancer disparities, including higher death rates and later-stage diagnoses, potentially due to barriers like rural isolation and lack of trust in mainstream healthcare. The study aims to co-design, implement, and assess this culturally tailored program to address these challenges. The study has two main objectives. The first involves participants contributing to the co-design of the CFPN program through serving on a Community Advisory Board, participating in focus groups, or completing key informant interviews. The second objective engages patients with the CFPN navigator who provides a personalized treatment plan based on individual needs, goals, and barriers. Patients also receive opioid misuse education and care coordination as part of the program. Participants' involvement varies by group: advisory board members guide the program design, focus group participants share insights in 1-2 hour sessions, and key informants provide interviews lasting about 30 minutes. Patients in the CFPN program receive ongoing navigation support tailored to their cancer treatment stage. Researchers evaluate qualitative and quantitative effectiveness, implementation, and participant attrition over up to two years, using community-informed and Indigenous evaluation methods.

A Culturally Informed Patient Navigation Program (CFPN) to Reduce Delays Between Diagnosis and Treatment in American Indian and Alaska Native Cancer Patients Living in Rural California