Lay health navigators: an initiative to navigate community members into lung cancer screening

This manuscript aims to describe the development and evaluation of a lung cancer education and navigation program utilizing Lay Health Navigators (LHNs) to navigate members of at-risk communities to low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening. Given observed higher lung cancer incidence and mortality rates among people of colour in the U.S., we utilized and built upon previous cancer education efforts to develop an educational presentation specific to lung cancer. Recognizing the potential for navigation using community members, we trained and evaluated culturally- and linguistically-representative student volunteers as LHNs to address nonclinical barriers to screening, such as a lack of transportation funds. We observed statistically significant improvements in LHNs’ cancer knowledge (P < 0.01) and self-evaluated confidence in helping others access health services (P < 0.05). From July 2022 to November 2023, we held 41 lung cancer educational presentations with 1966 community members in New York City. Twenty community members were confirmed to be eligible for screening, and 57% were successfully navigated into LDCT screening by LHNs. This program provides support for existing research on the potential for lay patient navigation to address present disparities in cancer screening using non-healthcare professionals.