Patients in Appalachia face unique barriers to accessing and navigating complex health care delivery systems due to distance from care and life circumstances. There is a shortage of trained patient navigators to address the needs of Appalachian patients, particularly barriers to health care, using patient navigation skills and strategies. Training is needed to provide basic...

Faculty

• Mark Dignan , PhD
• Sharon K. Dwyer , MS

Health professionals and others providing care and support to the Appalachian population need to have knowledge and appreciation of the Appalachian culture.  Training is needed to increase awareness of how features of the Appalachian culture may affect Patient Navigation and to increase the skills of Navigators in working with the Appalachian population.

Faculty

• Mark Dignan , PhD
• Sharon K. Dwyer , MS

The goal of this module is to provide you with the information on how to improve your personal communication skills in the performance of patient navigation in Appalachia. We will talk about enhancing communication skills, and doing that with respect to the cultural considerations found in Appalachia.

Faculty

• Mark Dignan , PhD
• Sharon K. Dwyer , MS

Patients in Appalachia face unique barriers to accessing and navigating complex health care delivery systems due to distance from care and life circumstances. There is a shortage of trained patient Navigators to address the needs of Appalachian patients, particularly barriers to health care, using patient navigation skills and strategies.

Faculty

• Mark Dignan , PhD
• Sharon K. Dwyer , MS

Patient navigators guide patients through cancer care, which is often very complicated. The navigator guides the patient using a process, based on a community needs assessment that improves the patient experience at every step and helps to support an optimal quality of life as each patient goes through their cancer journey.

In this module we will describe and illustrate the...

Faculty

• Mark Dignan , PhD
• Sharon K. Dwyer , MS

Communities are typically defined by a geographic area; however, they can also be based on shared interests or characteristics such as religion, race, age, or occupation
People within a community come from different backgrounds and have unique cultures, customs, and values. Detailed analysis of community assets, or resources, that currently exist in the community that can be...

Faculty

• Mark Dignan , PhD
• Sharon K. Dwyer , MS

Screening is a procedure that takes place before the patient has symptoms or shows any sign of disease. Some screening exams can be uncomfortable, and just the idea of being tested can cause anxiety in a person. So, there needs to be good reason to bring someone in for a potentially unpleasant experience.

Patients receive screening based on guidelines for each type of...

Faculty

• Mark Dignan , PhD
• Sharon K. Dwyer , MS

Patients in Appalachia face unique barriers to accessing and navigating complex health care delivery systems due to distance from care and life circumstances. There is a shortage of trained patient Navigators to address the needs of Appalachian patients, particularly barriers to health care, using patient navigation skills and strategies.

Screening is a procedure that...

Faculty

• Mark Dignan , PhD
• Sharon K. Dwyer , MS