Just Accepted
This article has been peer reviewed and accepted for publication. It is in production and has not been edited, so may differ from the final published form.
Community health navigators in Australian general practice: an implementation study
Cathy O'Callaghan, Elizabeth Harris, Sabuj Kanti Mistry, Mark Harris 
Abstract
Background: Patient health navigators have an emerging role in assisting people to connect with health and social care services especially those experiencing language and communication barriers. A challenge with navigator programs is sustaining their implementation. This study evaluated the implementation and sustainability of bilingual community navigators in multilingual general practices in Sydney and their impact on patient access. The hypothesis was that the use of bilingual navigators within multilingual practices would be acceptable and feasible, improve patient access to appropriate care and staff workload, and reduce health inequities. Methods: Patient referral information was collected and analysed descriptively. Interviews were conducted with practice staff, patients and navigators after 10-week placements and analysed thematically using Normalisation Process Theory. Results: 110 patients were referred to navigators who assisted with booking appointments, accessing community resources, translating and explaining information. Interviews were undertaken with 4 navigators, 6 patients, 2 carers and 3 GPs. Practice participants could see the benefits of the BCNs and were motivated to engage with them, especially with GP endorsement. However not all understood the navigator competencies and roles. In some practices, the population needs and the scheduling of appointments/ staff routines could have aligned better which constrained referrals and continued navigator involvement. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the potential role of navigators in addressing navigation problems of culturally and linguistically diverse patients in general practice. More effort is needed to tailor attachments to the unique needs of the patient population and practice schedule. Sustainability requires ongoing funding and broad institutional support.
PY25019 Accepted 16 May 2025
© La Trobe University 2025
