#NavigatingHealth
Access to health services and supports can be difficult for patients, and managing healthcare needs is often fragmented with many challenges navigating across "the system". We talk about patient-centred care but we do not have patient-centred systems.
Our Vision
Simplifying complexity: Right Patient, Right Care, Right Time, Every Time.
About #NavigatingHealth
The CSIRO Future of Health 2018 Report cites that the health system will shift but the current lived reality
is that patients face complex health systems which are often difficult to navigate with particular challenges transitioning across levels of health care.
#NavigatingHealth is a policy and advocacy project co-travelling an international doctoral thesis. The aims of the project are to streamline the silos and address the fragmentation by bringing together all those who are developing solutions to enable patients and carers to better navigate healthcare journeys. Through creating visibility by sharing stories & approaches, we are building community and sharing solutions to address these complex problems. We all have a role to play.
In September 2021 following the success of 2 national webinars in Australia we set up a "one-stop" #NavigatingHealth with solutions-focused colleagues. We hold bimonthly meetings nationally as well as webinars globally and have an active Linked In Community with >1000 members globally.
Our focus is collaboration - connecting change-makers. If you want to know more please email us.
Our new video highlights "our why" and we'd love you to join us!
#NavigatingHealth Network
The #NavigatingHealth Network brings together all those interested in improving journeys in health. We focus on patient and professional experiences across a life journey of care to understand the problems encountered but more importantly the enablers, the many solutions being developed and how to scale best practice approaches sustainably both locally, nationally and globally.
The following organisations have spoken at our meetings since we started in 2021 sharing their experiences, solutions and learnings - locally, nationally and globally.
We hold regular:
- Navigation Network meetings with the Australian Disease Management Association (ADMA)
- Global meetings for people across ALL countries
International Webinars
In 2022 recognising that #NavigatingHealth is a challenge and opportunity for many health systems we set up a global collaboration with individuals and organisations. Our focus is working globally to leverage learnings and strengths as part of a broader global health learning system.
We have run 5 global webinars since 2022. These are accessible below. In April 2023 we were approached by ABC Radio National who podcasted "The Point of Navigation" as "The radical act of making healthcare work for YOU the patient!" The podcast can be accessed here.
If you are interested to participate in these global webinars please get in touch!
2026 National Network
Save the Date 2026!
On 1st April we will be running #NavigatingHealth Forum: Building Sustainability through Community.
If you are interested in getting involved please email navigating-health@unimelb.edu.au with your area of focus.
2025 National Network
On 1st April we ran the now annual #Navigating Health forum. Under the headline Enabling Patients, System-Wide we centred on the making the patient voice visible and understanding experiences of patients in different contexts, the work underway in terms of addressing navigation service provision in health, community and not-for-profit sectors and current roll-out of government policy. Read more about the event.
Our graphic Illustrator created a visual summary of the forum in real time capturing key points and discussions.
2024 National Network
We talk about patient-centred care but we don’t have patient-centred systems. Understanding “why this matters” is essential to making progress in creating patient-centred in healthcare systems.
At the #NavigatingHealth: Simplifying Complexity – Connecting Changemakers forum, changemakers worked together in collaborative workshops as part of a “whole of life approach” from pregnancy and childbirth through to dementia and end-of-life care focused on Simplifying Complexity across a life course.
2023 National Network
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- The Nurse who became the Cancer Patient Sally Kriel, Clinical Nurse Consultant
- The Story Behind: Carers’ Couch Martina Clark, Founder Carers Couch
- What’s Your Opinion of Care Australia? Alicia Reid, Care Opinion Australia
- Navigating Chronic Disease Confidently Michelle Irving, CEO Career & Chronic International
- Creating Caring Neighbourhoods Kristine Rawlinson, Neighbourhood Houses Victoria
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- Through the Unexpected, Pieta Shakes, Founder & Executive Director, Through the Unexpected
- HealthPathways for Practitioners, Dr Kieran Holland, Clinical Lead, HealthPathways, Streamliners
- Peer Navigation via a Telephone Line, Dr Annette Peart, Research Fellow, Turning Point Addiction Treatment, Research and Education.
- Pathways to Legal and Financial Support, Sophie Anderson, Manager, Pro Bono Services, Cancer Council New South Wales
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- Consumer Health Resources: What’s Available, Clare Mullen, Deputy Director, Health Consumers’ Council Western Australia
- Consumer Rights; Partnering with Consumers Anna Flynn, Director, Australian Centre for Safety & Quality in Healthcare
- The Role of the Health Complaints Commissioner, Professor Bernice Redley, Health Complaints Commissioner, Victoria
- The Role of the Office of the Public Advocate, Michelle Willcox Coordinator of the Healthy Discussions Project at the Victorian Office of the Public Advocate
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2022 National Network
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- “A thousand meaningful conversations” - Dr Linny Kimly, Phuong, The Water Well Project
- Patient Data for Patient Outcomes - Nicole Cooper*, Dr Phil Smart, the Bowel Cancer Outcomes Registry
*Nicole Cooper passed away in January 2023. She will be remembered as a passionate advocate for improved access and outcomes. Our thanks and fond memories to a beautiful person who energised all around her
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- Health literacy to improve navigation Professor Richard Osborne, Swinburne University
- The problem of misinformation and disinformation in a cancer context Hayley Jones, Director, McCabe Centre for Law & Cancer
- Improving cardiac patient continuity of care (hospital, home, community) Dr Susie Cartledge, Monash University
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- Closing the gap: Leadership in Vision in Eye Health Professor Hugh Taylor, University of Melbourne
- Addressing the Gaps Peer Navigation in Cancer Sarah Powell,CEO, Pink Hope
2021 National Network
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- Partnering with Consumers – Anna Flynn, Australian Centre for Safety & Quality in Healthcare
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Knowledge base
Knowledge can be defined as tacit (word of mouth) or explicit (written down). We are currently in the process of developing a hub as a "one stop shop" focused on navigation. Check back here to access a list of local, national and international resources, including pilots and short-term programs. And if you have a resource to share, please email to the Project Lead
Project Lead
As a healthcare professional who worked in HIV/AIDS in the 1990s, shared-care approaches were the norm, focusing on the skills, knowledge and experience of the patient (or carer) and the health professionals to facilitate joint decision making for an individual's care across all facets of health and social needs. These learnings have never been scaled at a systems level.
It was this background together with the personal experience of a friend diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that underpinned my Master's research to understand the current situation in Australia. If this is a known problem impacting patients every single day, what is being done to address it? The Master's research, presented at the Canadian Health Navigation Conference in April 2022, highlighted that stakeholders (professionals and patients) have distinct areas of focus - structural, informational and emotional. The mechanisms for seamless transition are not embedded across the health system. My PhD research, in Australia and Wales, builds on the above and focuses on the mechanisms that enable patients to navigate their healthcare.
Selected Publications and Presentations
Jessup et al Peer Health Navigators to improve equity and access to healthcare in Australia: Can we build on successes from the COVID-19 pandemic? Aus NZ J Public Health 2024 Apr;48(2):100128. doi: 10.1016/j.anzjph.2024.100128.
Scarpetti G et al A comparison of social prescribing approaches across twelve high-income countries Health Policy 2024 Apr:142:104992. doi: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2024.104992.
Slade S, Ryan K #NavigatingHealth - Building a Global Movement - WONCA 2023 , Sydney
Slade S, Ryan K #NavigatingHealth - Building a Global Movement Empowering Patients to Navigate Health Interational Journal of Intergrated Care 2023 DOI: 10.5334/ijic.ICIC23554
Morse DF, Sandhu S, Mulligan K, et al Global developments in social prescribing BMJ Global Health 2022;7: e008524
Slade S, Patient Navigation in Australian Healthcare (oral) Canadian Health Navigation Conference Apr 2022
Slade, S The Future of Health is patient-partnered but how do we get there? Consumer Health Forum May 2022
Social Prescribing Show 2022 – Building a Global Social Prescribing Movement NHS England 2022
Slade S Mind the Gap: NavigatingHealth, Australian Healthcare & Hospitals Assocn, The Health Advocate Nov 2021
Slade, S, Brooks, P. Developing a Systems Approach to Enable Patient Navigation Croakey March 2021
Personalising Care at Population Level: The Opportunity for Social Prescribing 2020 MSPGH, University of Melbourne
Slade S, Shen C, A People Approach to Managing Knowledge: Why Do You Come to Work and Who Are You Working for? Calnan N, Lipa M, Kane P, Menezes J pp 361 – 379 USA CRC Press 2018