Patient Navigators/Health Coaches

[spjohnson93]

I transcribe interviews for qualitative research, quite a bit of which concerns health care delivery. So I get to eavesdrop when hospital staff and administrators talk about their work. Recently I've heard a lot about the role of the patient navigator/educator/health coach in medical settings, a career that I've become very interesting in pursuing. The terminology for the role varies, but basically it involves improving overall quality of life for people facing serious illness” (wording I stole off a palliative care organization's website). This involves pain management, symptom control, intensive communication and coordination of care.

As I understand it, the navigator/educator/health coach is like an executive assistant for seriously ill people and their families, making sure their medical care runs smoothly so they can focus on more important things. Not exactly a nurse, not exactly a doctor, not exactly a social worker, but someone who understands those roles and can help them mesh together better for the benefit of the patient.

Do you interact with anyone in a patient navigators/health coach role where you work? Are they helpful or not so helpful? Do you think there's a need for someone to fill that role even for patients with non-chronic, non-serious illnesses? Are there people you know who already do that sort of thing for some of their patients, even though it's not part of their job? I'm really curious to hear what you think about where someone like a patient navigator or health coach fits into the nursing picture and what skills a person should bring to that role.