Care navigation is critical to empower consumers to access appropriate and timely care across all settings and episodes of care, in a manner and location that best suits them. Integrated care navigation models should enable consumers to fully participate in their treatment and care, facilitate seamless access to services and support across primary health, including Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services, specialist and community services, and address barriers preventing access to care.

Building on Action 2.2.1 Develop a national framework for and implement integrated multi-channel, multi-disciplined navigation models that ensure the right support at the right time for every consumer across the cancer continuum, this 5-year action seeks to adapt these integrated multi-channel, multi-disciplined navigation models to ensure they are nationally available to all Australians, and facilitate integration across the system to prevent fragmentation.

Activities to achieve this 5-year action may include:

• evaluating the effectiveness of integrated cancer care navigation models, including ongoing monitoring of cost-effectiveness, cancer care outcomes and consumer experience
• identifying areas of potential improvement and adapting navigation models to different contexts and locations, spanning the care continuum and application to local settings
• scaling integrated cancer care navigation models to be nationally available for all Australians, regardless of location or cancer type
• developing nationally integrated cancer care navigation models personalised to individuals, co-designed with consumers, and aligned to the Plan equity framework, to ensure successful implementation and improved cancer care outcomes. Greater integration and mobility of the cancer care and supportive care workforce, including patient navigator networks and groups, will further enable scalability and accessibility of the navigation models.

Further to the considerations identified in Action 2.2.1, implementation of this action would need to integrate the consumer voice within evaluations of the navigation models and addressing the specific scalability challenges for each priority population group. This could include:

• evaluation of the culturally safe, trauma-aware, healing-informed nature of the integrated care navigation models, particularly for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people with diverse backgrounds, and people who identify as LGBTIQA+
• scalability of integrated care navigation models into rural and remote areas, lower socioeconomic groups and providing care closer to home and within the community
• provision of services in languages other than English for diverse communities
• supporting health providers through resources and training to better provide smooth navigation throughout a person’s cancer care journey
• integrating the role of community networks and advocacy groups in providing navigation services
• person-centred language that is respectful and inclusive, such as preferred pronouns.