Supporting Individuals with Mental Health and/or Addictions Issues Through Patient Navigation: A Scoping Review

Pathways through the mental health care system can be complex and laden with barriers that prevent individuals from finding the most appropriate care. Navigation has been proposed as a solution for improving access to and transition through complex health care systems. While several MHA navigation programs have emerged in the past decade, no study has explored the core themes of MHA navigation, which was the goal of the current review. A scoping review was conducted; the search yielded 11,525 unique results, of which 26 were entered into extraction and subsequent descriptive and thematic analysis. Barrier reduction, client-centered support, and integrated care emerged as the distinct themes underlying MHA services, and overall, navigation significantly improved outcomes for individuals experiencing MHA issues. These findings may support evidence-based implementation of navigation services and point to a need for increased exploration and reporting of MHA navigation outcomes in the literature.