Clearing clinical barriers: enhancing social support using a patient navigator for asthma care

Patients with moderate or severe asthma, particularly those who are minority or poor, often encounter significant personal, clinical practice, and health system barriers to accessing care.

To explore the ideas of patients and providers for potentially feasible, individualized, cost-effective ways to reduce obstacles to care by providing social support using a patient advocate or navigator.

The authors conducted four focus groups of adults with moderate or severe asthma. Participants were recruited from clinics serving low-income and minority urban neighborhoods. Data from these patient focus groups were shared with two additional focus groups, one of nurses and one of physicians. Researchers independently coded and agreed upon themes from all focus groups, which were categorized by types of social support: instrumental (physical aid), informational (educational), emotional (empathizing), validation (comparisons to others).

Patients and providers agreed that a patient navigator could help patients manage asthma by giving social support. Both groups found instrumental and informational support most important. However, patients desired more instrumental help whereas providers focused on informational support. Physicians stressed review of medical information whereas patients wanted information to complete administrative tasks. Providers and patients agreed that the patient navigator's role in asthma would need to address both short-term care of exacerbations and enhance long-term chronic self-management by working with practice personnel.

Along with medical information, there is a need for providers to connect patients to instrumental support relevant to acute and long-term asthma-self-management.