Family Perspectives on Student-Run Patient Navigator Program Addressing Disparities in Nutrition and Physical...

Area of Science:

• Community health
• Public health interventions
• Patient navigation

Background:

• Diet-related chronic diseases are linked to disparities in food access, nutrition education, and physical activity.
• Community-clinical collaborations are essential for addressing these health disparities.
• The Family Lifestyle Program (FLiP) utilizes patient navigators (PNs) to connect families with local resources.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess caregivers' experiences with the FLiP patient navigator program.
• To identify programmatic strengths, weaknesses, and resource utilization patterns.
• To inform the development of future patient navigator initiatives.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional qualitative analysis of post-intervention telephone interviews.
• Semi-structured interviews explored enrollment, communication, and resource connection experiences.
• Thematic analysis was used to identify key themes from caregiver transcripts.

Main Results:

• Caregivers reported positive communication experiences with FLiP PNs.
• Resource provision facilitated community connections for families.
• Barriers to resource utilization were identified.
• Participating caregivers universally recommended the program.

Conclusions:

• Caregivers found the enrollment process accessible and viewed medical students as effective PNs.
• The benefits of provided resources extended to the family and community.
• Convenience sampling may have influenced results, potentially overrepresenting positive experiences.
• Program elements can inform broader patient navigator program development.