Addressing cancer survivorship needs through lay patient navigation: Developing education for Texas community health workers (CHWs)
Introduction
The complexity of navigating cancer care can be overwhelming for cancer survivors and their caregivers. Community health workers (CHWs) often serve as lay navigators but may not have formal training in cancer care. The Cancer Alliance of Texas survivorship workgroup, which consists of members from practice, advocacy groups, community partners, academia, and cancer survivors, aimed to develop education for the diverse population of CHWs in Texas.
Methods
To inform the educational programs, workgroup members brainstormed a survey for CHWs. The survey was developed in English and Spanish by workgroup members from the Breast Cancer Resource Center. The survey was shared through email by the Texas Department of State Health Services as well as by workgroup members to other CHW networks. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the findings.
Results
Two hundred twenty-six individuals from 75 towns/cities across the state of Texas responded to the survey. One survey respondent lived across the state border in New Mexico but worked in Texas. Most survey respondents were currently working as community health workers/promotores (81.9%) and/or lay patient navigators (1.7%) with 16.4 % responding “other” for their current position. For those responding “other,” the roles varied, e.g., teachers, case managers, nurses, and CHW managers. Overwhelmingly, respondents were interested in cancer patient navigation training with 92.5% responding they would like continuing education. The top five education topics identified were resources (81.4%), psychosocial needs (72.1%), financial toxicity (68.1%), basic cancer information (62.8%), and caregivers/family (52.7%). English (67.3%) and Spanish (23.9%) languages were preferred for future training, with 8.8% of respondents requesting the training be in both languages.
Conclusion
The survey results provide an evidence-based approach to inform future educational activities for CHWs in Texas. CHWs are interested in cancer-related continuing education so they can provide additional support to cancer survivors and their caregivers. CAT Survivorship workgroup members in partnership with the Texas Association of Promotores & Community Health Workers have already used the results to begin developing CHW education that will be provided in English and Spanish in Fall 2023. The CHW education is focused on the top four topics: resources, psychosocial needs, financial toxicity, and basic cancer information. Our group will be applying for continuing education credits for CHW participants.