The Role of the Indigenous Patient Navigator Internationally

Abstract

In Canada as well as other countries with shared colonial histories, the healthcare system is complex and as a result, fragmentation of services is experienced. Indigenous populations experience increasingly disproportionate health disparities compared to non-Indigenous populations within Canada and around the world which increases the complexity of navigating the healthcare system. Patient navigation is known as a patient-centered approach to enable and empower individuals and families to overcome barriers experienced while accessing health and social services. The literature surrounding the Indigenous patient navigator (IPN) role remains sparse. Understanding the IPN role and how health and social service barriers are addressed and how enablers are promoted is necessary. A qualitative interpretive description methodology guided by a Two-Eyed Seeing framework and Social Determinants of Indigenous Peoples’ Health Tree Metaphor developed by Charlotte Loppie (2022) were employed. Interviews were conducted via telephone and virtual platform with 20 IPNs and 16 patients or family members who had received IPN services. Additionally, 10 IPN documents were reviewed. The results related to the barriers and enablers Indigenous Peoples experience when accessing biomedical health care services in Canada as well as the roles and activities the IPN enact to address these barriers and promote enablers to access health and social services. Findings suggest that the IPN role is an integral part of improving access to health and social services for Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Eight major IPN roles are outlined which assist to address health and social service barriers and promote enablers experienced by Indigenous Peoples in Canada across health care settings. Finally, findings will assist decision and policy makers to make informed choices surrounding the IPN role and how this role can bridge the gap in health inequity to improve access to health and social services for Indigenous communities across Canada and abroad.