#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 realityGraphic showing the steps needed for the health systyem to transition from a reactive stsuems to a holistic & predictive approach 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:

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!

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

2022 National Network

2021 National Network

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.

Read more

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