ACS Community Access to Resources Education and Support

Community Engagement in the Development of Oncology Navigation Training

The goal of this study is to evaluate the pilot phase of ACS Cares to identify key implementation outcomes and assess effectiveness of the program to improve distress, enhance communication, and reduce missed appointments and healthcare utilization.

In 2023, the American Cancer Society (ACS) created a new program, ACS Cares, based on the Take the Fight experience and existing literature on non-clinical navigation. The goal of ACS Cares is to supplement existing navigation infrastructure to extend navigation services to a broader population of patients. This is accomplished through designating lower level, timely tasks to volunteers and allowing paid navigators to practice at the highest level of their license (e.g nurses proving symptom management, higher level coordination). The goal of this study is to evaluate the pilot phase of ACS Cares to identify key implementation outcomes and assess effectiveness of the program to improve distress, enhance communication, and reduce missed appointments and healthcare utilization.

Inclusion Criteria:

• patients of health system's healthcare physician champions with a confirmed cancer diagnosis
• patients with a confirmed cancer diagnosis
• families of patients with a confirmed cancer diagnosis
• Caregivers of patients with a confirmed cancer diagnosis

Exclusion Criteria:

• patients, families and/or caregivers without a confirmed cancer diagnosis
• patients not receiving care from healthcare physician champions