HRSA Awards $2.4 Million for Patient Navigator Demonstration

HRSA announced today six awards totaling nearly $2.4 million for two-year projects to assess how individuals known as "patient navigators" can improve patients’ chances of beating and managing chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity and asthma.

Grants from the Patient Navigator Outreach and Chronic Disease Prevention Demonstration Program will be used to recruit, train and employ patient navigators, who can be nurses, social workers, community health workers or anyone with first-hand knowledge of the communities they serve.

Navigators will manage the non-medical components of care for their clients and educate community members about prevention and early detection. This type of outreach is especially important among minority groups, many of whom are at risk for diabetes and other chronic diseases but may not be in treatment.

Patient navigators will:

• coordinate screenings and medical referrals;
• provide literature for clients coping with chronic disease and the side effects of treatment;
• identify resources related to health insurance, financial assistance, medication, home care and transportation;
• offer emotional support, and make referrals to support groups and classes;
• tell patients about clinical trials; and
• help clients overcome language and cultural barriers.

"The patient navigator concept has been used successfully for years to help people with cancer access a broader range of treatment and services," said HRSA Administrator Elizabeth Duke. "We’re optimistic that this new demonstration will improve patient outcomes for people with other chronic diseases and reduce health disparities."

The program, administered by HRSA’s Bureau of Health Professions, is authorized under the Patient Navigator Outreach and Chronic Disease Prevention Act of 2005, part of the Public Health Service Act. Awards went to one academic health center, two health centers, a hospital district, a free clinic and a community non-profit organization. A table of grantees follows:

Patient Navigator Outreach and Chronic Disease Prevention
Demonstration Grants, FY 08

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The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), part of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary Federal agency for improving access to health care services for people who are uninsured, isolated, or medically vulnerable. For more information about HRSA and its programs, visit www.hrsa.gov.