Navigating Health and Social Services in Primary Care: Building Best Practices

Workshop – BackgroundMost health systems were designed to respond to acute illness or injury requiring episodes of care, not ongoing chronic disease management. Primary care physicians are increasingly burdened with helping patients find timely and appropriate care and services to meet their needs. Patient and primary care provider co-designed navigation is needed.Workshop - Aims and ObjectivesThe aim of this workshop is to broaden our understanding of emerging strategies for assisting primary care providers and their patients navigate resources to meet diverse health and social care needs.The objectives are for participants to be able to:1. Identify the key attributes of navigators and efficient methodologies to support integrated primary care.2. Apply warm navigation strategies (transfer of care between two health care providers ensuring appropriate communication as well as follow-up and follow through) in order to incorporate the complexity of health needs, health literacy, social determinants of health, language, and culture of patients.Workshop - Target audienceThe target audience includes patients, families, primary care providers (including physicians, nurses, interprofessional providers, administrators, funders), specialists, home care and community providers, health educators, and hospitals.Workshop - FormatThe format of workshop:1. Introduction: rationale for navigation in integrated primary care and navigation roles in health care (J Charles 10 minutes)2. Presentation of two successful primary care navigation strategies: Telemedicine IMPACT Plus (TIP) and SCOPE (Seamless Care Optimizing the Patient Experience) – (P Pariser 15 minutes).3. Group discussion, sharing other successful models of primary care navigation (F Simone 10 minutes)3. Small group breakout sessions: identification of key roles, attributes and skills of a primary care navigator (each facilitator will moderate a break out session; 30 minutes).4. Large group debrief/discussion (D Wedel; 25 minutes)5. Summary (J Charles) 5 minutesWorkshop - Key Learnings/Take away1. Navigation is critical to integrated primary care to meet the diverse needs of patients2. Navigation strategies should be co-designed with patients and primary care providers3. Key attributes and efficient navigation models tailored to primary care are needed.4. The principles of follow-up and follow through are essential.