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The Burden of Getting Medical Care Can Exhaust Older Patients
Aging Well | Last Active: Apr 25 10:32am | Replies (50)Comment receiving replies
@gingerw - Thank you Ginger - could you expand on what a "Patient Navigator" is charged with doing for a patient?
I've seen them listed with their contact info at hospitals, doctors' offices, but wondered if they really can help, or can a patient actually get penalized (knowingly or unknowingly) for contacting them? Are they actually required to keep contacts from patients confidential?
Appreciate finding out more about this from your knowledge and position as a MCC Volunteer Mentor (and, as always, appreciate what you do here!)
I hope you are doing OK these days, too!
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@brandysparks From the National Cancer Institute, here is their definition of a patient navigator: https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/patient-navigator
I have used a patient navigator before, and am not aware of being penalized for doing so. But you just gave me an "uh-oh!" moment, to be sure!! Frankly, it is so hard for an individual to be up-to-speed on how to muddle through all the hurdles we face when we have health concerns, knowing the correct procedures or the right steps to take to get things done. I have found having someone to help me through the forms/paperwork/steps can be a blessing. And once when I had to contact such a person because I felt I was getting nowhere with a situation, things were resolved very quickly!
It seems things are constantly changing in the medical care community, and being able to access someone on the inside to help us, is invaluable. Besides being called a patient navigator, some organizations may instead use the title social worker, or patient advocate.
Ginger