How health care policy and entertainment education can help to close the gap of cancer health disparities

Poor, uninsured, and many minority patients face significant barriers to obtaining screening, diagnosis and timely treatment for cancer. These barriers may be due to financial, communication, health care system and/or emotional factors. Beginning in 1990, Patient Navigator programs were initiated in Central Harlem. The function of patient navigators is to eliminate barriers to screening, early diagnosis and timely treatment though one-on-one assistance for patients. By using patient navigation and free, low-cost cancer screening, the Harlem Hospital Center increased five-year survival of poor black women with breast cancer from 39% to 70%.

Based on this successful model, The Patient Navigator Outreach and Chronic Disease Act was passed by the Congress and signed into law by the President in June 2005. Patient Navigator programs have also been funded by National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) the American Cancer Society, the Komen Foundation, Avon and other funding sources.

We will describe the health policy process to introduce the Act in the House of Representatives, to educate elected officials about the potential benefits from the Act, and to address questions regarding cancer health disparities, underserved patients, quality of care and health outcomes. We will also describe expert consultations with TV writers that resulted in an ER storyline about cancer myths, cancer disparities and a Patient Navigator. Furthermore, we will report on the impact of the storyline on TV viewers and on Congressional Committee discussion before The Patient Navigator Act of 2005 was signed into law.