Patient Navigation in the Safety Net:CONNECTeDD

June 14, 2016 updated by: Battaglia, Tracy, Boston Medical Center

The Boston University Medical Center, funded by the National Cancer Institutes will train health workers at six of its affiliated Community Health Centers to guide patients through the cancer care system. The project will help to teach patients how to communicate more effectively with their health care team in order to understand the treatment options available to them. Although not widely available, it is believed patient navigation programs are beneficial.

This research study will evaluate how well this tool works, especially among those who experience disparities in health care. The goal is to determine if having a trained navigator shortens the time between an abnormal test result and a definitive diagnosis and between a definitive diagnosis and completion of treatment for breast and Cervical cancer patients. The project also will evaluate whether navigation improves the ability to communicate with the doctor, satisfaction with patient's care and quality of life.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Racial and ethnic minority groups and low-income persons experience significantly higher cancer mortality rates than other Americans. These disparities are due to at least two factors: (1) delays in follow-up of abnormal cancer screening results and (2) suboptimal management of diagnosed cancer. Patient navigation represents a promising means for addressing disparities by improving cancer related management for minority and other underserved populations. However, patient navigation for cancer has yet to be evaluated through a well-designed randomized controlled trial. Furthermore, patient navigation is likely to prove most effective and sustainable when it is integrated into primary care and helps patients be more active in their care. This combination of patient empowerment and engagement is referred to as "activation." The aim of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness and costs of such a program in a rigorous manner so that the results can be generalized and the program can be widely disseminated and implemented. We will develop, implement, and evaluate a primary care-based, patient navigation-activation program using specially-trained patient Navigators who work within one of the six affiliated Community Health Centers. We propose to investigate the effect of this intervention on timing and quality of cancer-related care. Secondary aims examine the impact of navigation on disparities in care, improvement in patient activation, and total costs. Project findings will inform national policy regarding patient navigation for cancer.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

4038

Phase

  • Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02118
        • Boston Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Receive care at one of the 6 participating community Health centers
  • Have received a positive breast or colorectal cancer screening test requiring follow-up on a different day
  • Have been newly diagnosed with breast or colorectal cancer
  • Have received notification by the provider of an abnormal breast or colorectal screening result

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Cognitively impaired
  • Institutionalized (nursing home, incarcerated)
  • Children <18
  • Actively involved in cancer treatment at time of presentation
  • Currently or previously navigated with (a) navigation documented in the medical record or (b) patient can articulate that they are in a navigation program or case management program for cancer

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Develop,implement and evaluate a primary care-based,patient navigation program using patient navigators in the Community Health Centers. We will investigate the effect of this intervention on timing and quality of cancer-related care
Time Frame: 4 years
4 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Secondary aims examine the impact of navigation on disparities in care, improvement in patient activation and total costs
Time Frame: 4 years
4 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Boston Medical Center

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Karen M Freund, MD, MPH, Boston Medical Center
  • Principal Investigator: Tracy Battaglia, MD, MPH, Boston Medical Center

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

July 1, 2005

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2010

Study Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 30, 2008

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 11, 2008

First Posted (Estimate)

February 13, 2008

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

June 15, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 14, 2016

Last Verified

June 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • U01CA116892-03 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
  • U01CA116892 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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