Patient Navigation—Who Needs What? Awareness of Patient Navigators and Ranking of Their Tasks in the General Population in Germany

Susanne Schnitzer, Raphael Kohl, Hella Fügemann, Kathrin Gödde, Judith Stumm, Fabian Engelmann, Ulrike Grittner and Nina Rieckmann
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Susanne Schnitzer: Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Medical Sociology and Rehabilitation Science, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Raphael Kohl: Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Medical Sociology and Rehabilitation Science, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Hella Fügemann: Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane, Institute of Social Medicine and Epidemiology, 14770 Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany
Kathrin Gödde: Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Public Health, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Judith Stumm: Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Institute of General Practice and Family Medicine, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Fabian Engelmann: Kassenärztliche Bundesvereinigung (KBV), Geschäftsbereich Sicherstellung und Versorgungsstruktur, Abteilung Versorgungsstruktur, 10592 Berlin, Germany
Ulrike Grittner: Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Institute for Biometry and Clinical Epidemiology, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Nina Rieckmann: Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Public Health, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 5, 1-13

Abstract: The aim of the present study was to investigate the awareness of patient navigation (PN) in the general population in Germany and to assess which navigator tasks are considered most important. The analysis drew on a 2019 nationwide telephone survey of 6110 adults. We compared rankings of emotional support, administrative support and information among respondents with and without experience of patient navigation. One-fifth of the sample reported having heard of PNs; 13% of this group already had experience with PN. In both groups, the majority (>47%) considered assistance with applications to be most important. This was particularly the case among younger adults and those with a chronic disease. Within the inexperienced group, higher educated people had higher odds of ranking provision of information as most important for them, whereas women and those without a partner had higher odds of ranking emotional support as the most important task. This study shows that the majority of people predominantly expect PN services to offer administrative support, irrespective of their socioeconomic and health status. Whether these expectations are met by the diverse existing PN programs, which often have a strong focus on other tasks (e.g., increasing health literacy), has yet to be evaluated.

Keywords: patient navigation; health information; emotional support; social support; population survey; sociodemographic characteristics; chronic disease; subjective health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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