Pediatric cancer patients and their families have complex and multi-dimensional care needs, which extend beyond the medical. Pediatric cancer can profoundly affect a child’s education, social relationships, and long-term fertility, as well as their family’s financial stability.  However, care is often fragmented, requiring patients and their families to navigate a dispersed system of health, education, and social services across several settings and systems.

One promising solution to bridge this gap is supporting patient navigation – a framework designed to facilitate integrated care for patients and families by serving as the by linking and connecting them to medical, social, and community-based services, as well as helping them overcome barriers to access When implemented properly in other complex patient populations, patient navigation has improved the coordination of care and the accessing of resources.

However, limited information is available on the existing patient navigation programs and resources currently available in Canada for pediatric cancer patients.  To address this gap, this project aims to:

1. Conduct an environmental scan of existing patient navigation programs and resources for children with cancer and their families in Canada;
2. Lead a national needs assessment to identify unmet navigation needs among patients, families, and healthcare teams;
3. Assemble the existing patient navigation resources into a centralized repository for use by the pediatric cancer community in Canada; and
4. Develop national navigation resources, informed by the scan and assessment, to improve access, coordination, and integration of care.

By understanding what exists – and what is still needed – this project will provide an evidence-based foundation to guide the development, implementation, and dissemination of patient navigation solutions across Canada’s pediatric cancer community. This work will help reduce the burden on families, strengthen service integration, and ensure that every child diagnosed with cancer has access to and receives the optimal care and support they need.

For more information, please contact Tricia Schneider.