Cancer Prevention and Screening for People Experiencing Homelessness: Co-Designing the Health Navigator Model
By:
References
- 1FEANTSA. 9th Overview of Housing Exclusion in Europe 2024. [webpage on the internet]. [cited 2024 Oct 22]. Available from:
https://www.feantsa.org/public/user/Activities/events/2024/9th_overview/Rapport_-_EN.pdf . - 2Aldridge RW, Menezes D, Lewer D, Cornes M, Evans H, Blackburn RM, et al. Causes of death among homeless people: a population-based cross-sectional study of linked hospitalisation and mortality data in England. Wellcome open research. 2019;4:
49 . DOI: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15151.1 - 3Asgary R. Cancer screening in the homeless population. The Lancet. Oncology. 2018;19(7):e344–e350. DOI: 10.1016/S1470-2045(18)30200-6
- 4Asgary R. Cancer care and treatment during homelessness. The Lancet. Oncology. 2024;25(2):e84–e90. DOI: 10.1016/S1470-2045(23)00567-3
- 5Jeleff M, Haider S, Schiffler T, Gil-Salmerón A, Yang L, Barreto Schuch F, Grabovac I. Cancer risk factors and access to cancer prevention services for people experiencing homelessness. The Lancet. Public health. 2024;9(2):e128–e146. DOI: 10.1016/S2468-2667(23)00298-0
- 6Lawrie K, Charow R, Giuliani M, Papadakos J. Homelessness, Cancer and Health Literacy: A Scoping Review. Journal of health care for the poor and underserved. 2020;31(1):81–104. DOI: 10.1353/hpu.2020.0010
- 7Pedersen PV, Rod MH, Tjørnhøj-Thomsen T. “There’s so much wrong with me. I’ve just gotten a little sick”: Syndemic cancer experiences among people struggling with homelessness and severe substance use. SSM – Qualitative Research in Health. 2024;5:
100415 . DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmqr.2024.100415 - 8Schiffler T, Carmichael C, Smith L, Doñate-Martínez A, Alhambra-Borrás T, Varadé MR, et al. Access to cancer preventive care and program considerations for people experiencing homelessness across four European countries: an exploratory qualitative study. EClinicalMedicine. 2023;62:
102095 . DOI: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.102095 - 9Lennox-Chhugani N. Integrated Care – Defining for the Future through the Eye of the Beholder. International journal of integrated care. 2021;21(3):
13 . DOI: 10.5334/ijic.6427 - 10Bush ML, Kaufman MR, Shackleford T. Adherence in the Cancer Care Setting: a Systematic Review of Patient Navigation to Traverse Barriers. Journal of cancer education: the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education. 2018;33(6):1222–9. DOI: 10.1007/s13187-017-1235-2
- 11Shusted CS, Barta JA, Lake M, Brawer R, Ruane B, Giamboy TE, et al. The Case for Patient Navigation in Lung Cancer Screening in Vulnerable Populations: A Systematic Review. Population health management. 2019;22(4):347–61. DOI: 10.1089/pop.2018.0128
- 12Freeman HP. The origin, evolution, and principles of patient navigation. Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention: a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology. 2012;21(10):1614–7. DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-12-0982
- 13Carmichael C, Smith L, Aldasoro E, Gil Salmerón A, Alhambra-Borrás T, Doñate-Martínez A, et al. Exploring the application of the navigation model with people experiencing homelessness: a scoping review. Journal of Social Distress and Homelessness. 2023;32(2):352–66. DOI: 10.1080/10530789.2021.2021363
- 14Hickmann E, Richter P, Schlieter H. All together now – patient engagement, patient empowerment, and associated terms in personal healthcare. BMC health services research. 2022;22(1):
1116 . DOI: 10.1186/s12913-022-08501-5 - 15Chen M, Wu VS, Falk D, Cheatham C, Cullen J, Hoehn R. Patient Navigation in Cancer Treatment: A Systematic Review. Current oncology reports. 2024;26(5):504–37. DOI: 10.1007/s11912-024-01514-9
- 16Schiffler T, Kapan A, Gansterer A, Pass T, Lehner L, Gil-Salmeron A, et al. Characteristics and Effectiveness of Co-Designed Mental Health Interventions in Primary Care for People Experiencing Homelessness: A Systematic Review. International journal of environmental research and public health. 2023;20(1). DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20010892
- 17Bowen S, McSeveny K, Lockley E, Wolstenholme D, Cobb M, Dearden A. How was it for you? Experiences of participatory design in the UK health service. CoDesign. 2013;9(4):230–46. DOI: 10.1080/15710882.2013.846384
- 18Boaz A, Hanney S, Borst R, O’Shea A, Kok M. How to engage stakeholders in research: design principles to support improvement. Health research policy and systems. 2018;16(1):
60 . DOI: 10.1186/s12961-018-0337-6 - 19Carmichael C, Schiffler T, Smith L, Moudatsou M, Tabaki I, Doñate-Martínez A, et al. Barriers and facilitators to health care access for people experiencing homelessness in four European countries: an exploratory qualitative study. International journal for equity in health. 2023;22(1):
206 . DOI: 10.1186/s12939-023-02011-4 - 20DeGroff A, Coa K, Morrissey KG, Rohan E, Slotman B. Key considerations in designing a patient navigation program for colorectal cancer screening. Health promotion practice. 2014;15(4):483–95. DOI: 10.1177/1524839913513587
- 21Clark J. Using diamond ranking as visual cues to engage young people in the research process. Qualitative Research Journal. 2012;12(2):222–37. DOI: 10.1108/14439881211248365
- 22Saldaña J. The coding manual for qualitative researchers. Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore, Washington DC, Melbourne: SAGE; 2021.
- 23Mosquera I, Todd A, Balaj M, Zhang L, Benitez Majano S, Mensah K, et al. Components and effectiveness of patient navigation programmes to increase participation to breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening: A systematic review. Cancer medicine. 2023;12(13):14584–611. DOI: 10.1002/cam4.6050
- 24Glaser KM, Crabtree-Ide CR, McNulty AD, Attwood KM, Flores TF, Krolikowski AM, et al. Improving Guideline-Recommended Colorectal Cancer Screening in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC): Implementing a Patient Navigation and Practice Facilitation Intervention to Promote Health Equity. International journal of environmental research and public health. 2024;21(2). DOI: 10.3390/ijerph21020126
- 25Fragner T, Belogianni K, Grabovac I. Cancer care in people experiencing homelessness: identifying key issues, challenges, and facilitators. The British journal of general practice: the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners. 2024;74(745):342–3. DOI: 10.3399/bjgp24X738801
- 26Ali-Faisal SF, Colella TJF, Medina-Jaudes N, Benz Scott L. The effectiveness of patient navigation to improve healthcare utilization outcomes: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Patient education and counseling. 2017;100(3):436–48. DOI: 10.1016/j.pec.2016.10.014
- 27Browne T, Darnell J, Estes Savage T, Brown A. Social Workers as Patient Navigators: A Review of the Literature: Table 1. Social Work Research. 2015;39(3):158–66. DOI: 10.1093/swr/svv017
- 28Chevreau G, Vallat-Azouvi C, Coll M, Barbot F, Castillo M-C. Homelessness and Research: Methodological Obstacles and Lessons Learned from a Psychological Study in Parisian Homeless Services. Psych. 2021;3(2):184–96. DOI: 10.3390/psych3020016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/ijic.9293 | Journal eISSN: 1568-4156
Language: English
Submitted on: Mar 3, 2025
Accepted on: Aug 11, 2025
Published on: Nov 11, 2025
Published by: Ubiquity Press
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 4 issues per year
Keywords:
© 2025 Alejandro Gil-Salmerón, Christina Carmichael, Tobias Fragner, Maria Moudatsou, Ioanna Tabaki, Jaime Barrio Cortes, Ascensión Doñate-Martínez, Lee Smith, Igor Grabovac, published by Ubiquity Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.