Evaluating the Implementation of a Pediatric Patient Navigation Center for Children and Youth With Complex Care Needs

Figures & data

Figure 1. NaviCare/SoinsNavi client pathway.

Table 1. Child/youth gender and age (N = 141).

	Frequency (n)	Percentage (%)
Gender
Male	99	63.46
Female	57	36.54
Total reported	156	100
Age band, years
<2	13	8.02
2–5	51	31.48
6–11	57	35.18
12–17	20	12.35
>17	21	12.96
Total reported	162	100

Table 2. Child/youth diagnoses by category.

	Frequency (n)	Percentage (%)
Autoimmune disorders	3	1.26
Cardiac disorders	5	2.10
Endocrine disorders	4	1.68
Gastrointestinal disorders	9	3.78
Genetic disorders	27	11.34
Mental health disorders	21	8.82
Musculoskeletal disorders	8	3.36
Neurodevelopmental disorders	138	57.98
Renal disorders	1	<1
Respiratory disorders	2	<1
No diagnosis	20	8.40
Total	238*	100

Note: **46 clients (45%) reported more than one diagnosis.

Table 3. Number of diagnoses per child/youth.

	Frequency (n)	Percentage (%)
1 Diagnosis	96	59.26
2 Diagnoses	24	14.81
3 Diagnoses	12	7.41
4 Diagnoses	9	5.55
>4 Diagnoses	1	<1
No diagnosis	20	12.35
Total reported	162	100

Table 4. Themes.

	Subthemes	Supporting quote
NaviCare/SoinsNavi team interviews
Expand reach and coverage	Capture broader geographical region Capture broader range of conditions	“I think we’re really reaching southern NB and even within southern NB, we’re reaching mostly people with autism. Our intent is to reach individuals with complex care needs more broadly. So, I think we are hitting a really narrow geographical location, but also narrow in terms of diagnosis as well.”
2. Implement sustained outreach and recruitment strategies	Creative marketing Social media promotion	“So, we’re trying to build the social media a little bit more trying to get that out … I don’t know if it’s feasible to pay for something like that … I don’t know how we do that, but I feel like that would be helpful because then the patient navigator is gonna [sic] get more calls, and people are going to be able to access it more. ‘Cause we’re so new, a lot of people don’t know we exist.”
3. Maintain of NaviCare/ SoinsNavi’s research program	Balance service delivery with research Personnel dedicated to research	“I think that was another shift that was really tricky, because it started up as a service, the research was very much, almost secondary and then when we shifted it here [current location], it was finally … it’s a research project and we’re actually evaluating this service.”
4. Continue to build stakeholder relationships	Collaboration among patients, families, and care providers Collaboration between NaviCare/SoinsNavi and other services	“I think that ongoing collaboration with professionals is going to be really important.”
Client interviews
Satisfaction with program implementation	Feeling supported by patient navigator Getting relevant information and resources from patient navigator	“I think everybody else has a very specific mandate, whether, you know, it’s a specific service like, you know, speech language, occupational therapy, pediatrician, you know, they all have a special mandate … but yet I think sometimes in that, the listening part gets maybe a little bit, um, jumbled, and so that was the first day that I can honestly say when I hung up the phone I thought to myself—wow, she really listened to me and she understood what it was that my husband and I are struggling with so badly.”
2. Lack of awareness of NaviCare/SoinsNavi	Many patients, caregivers, and care providers have never heard of NaviCare/SoinsNavi	“The only thing I would say is that, like, I work in a building full of helping professions and nobody knew about NaviCare.”
3. Increase navigator hands-on support	Would like more resources Would like more help coordinating services Need more than a list of resources	“So, the only thing is, that I have to say is, when I got the list and then realized that that was the extent of it.”
4. Need for collaborative care	Need a team approach to care NaviCare/SoinsNavi works with other services	“NaviCare will often reach out to me for different advice, which I really value because it seems it’s like a partnership. It’s not one-sided. Just overall to continue to co-support people, I think, that’s very important to have that relationship between families and different organizations or associations and to really be a collaborative source I guess because that has really been my experience from the start and it’s been really positive.”