Why should a cancer patient use a patient navigator?
It can be hard asking for help, but we are nearly always grateful after receiving it. Patient navigators are here to help you. Having a knowledgeable person guide you to the resources you need for your cancer journey is important. Author and clinical psychologist, Robin McGee discusses what the benefits of a patient navigator are in this video. You never know what knowledge you may be missing, but a patient navigator can fill you in.
To learn more about what do do after a cancer diagnosis watch “Five Questions to Have Answered After a Diagnosis” with Dr. Madappa Kundranda.
Video Transcripts
Robin McGee: In some states and some provinces, there is such a thing as a cancer patient navigator and I encourage people to contact that person if such referral is made for you because these are things I wished I had known when I got started because I did not know of these things and I had to learn hard way what I am telling you now, but I was sort of told that the cancer patient navigator, oh that is for elderly people, that is for socially disadvantaged people who don’t have computers to look up things themselves, that is not true. These are, cancer patient navigator that we have is an oncology nurse that can really help you navigate to the resources that are available in your place of residence and they can access and tell you about local resources that you may not even have been aware of or mean never become aware of if not for the guidance of someone like them.