Abstract

Purpose. To assess the impact of patient navigation (PN) on satisfaction with health care and medical mistrust among American Indians (AI) undergoing cancer treatment. Methods. This was a pre-post cohort survey study of 52 AI cancer patients who participated in a culturally-tailored PN program during their cancer treatment. Surveys were administered prior to and after cancer treatment assessing medical mistrust and satisfaction with health care using two Likert-type scales. Results. Participation refusal rate was 7%. Mean scale scores for satisfaction with health care were significantly improved after PN compared with pre-navigation (p<.0001; Wilcoxon signed-rank test). There was no significant difference in the mean scale scores for medical mistrust after PN compared with those observed prior to treatment (p=.13). Conclusions. American Indian cancer patients who received PN services during their cancer treatment showed improvement in levels of satisfaction with health. However, no improvements were observed in levels of medical mistrust.

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