Care Planning and Patient Navigation

Care planning and navigation are key skills that all patient advocates will use in their daily work. This culminating course outlines the critical knowledge and skills necessary for advocates to create roadmaps for patient navigation and care planning. Course work provides the opportunity for students to integrate the knowledge and practice some of the skills they have acquired in the prerequisite courses utilizing simulated patient case studies. Topics include importance of documentation, scope of practice, practice specialization, motivational interviewing, the art of conducting assessments, community resources, working through difficult patient situations and formulating a self-care plan. Students create a simulated patient case study in the first week of class and develop a care plan and roadmap for navigation, which is presented during the last week of class. In addition, they participate in a patient management meeting every three weeks with their assigned team members to discuss patient cases and resources for care planning.