Health Navigation

A New Approach to Consumer Self-Managed Care

Health Navigation is a culturally-responsive, promising practice intervention designed to provide the services, skills and confidence which consumers with serious mental illness need to self-manage their healthcare. After completing an intensive, specialized training course combining classroom instruction and coaching in real-world settings, each certified Health Navigator works with 40-50 consumers each year to “bridge” the mental health, primary healthcare, and specialty healthcare systems.

Health Navigation Overview

The Health Navigator Certification Training Program, also known as Peer Health Navigation (Project Bridge), is a certification course designed to train the behavioral workforce to help consumers "navigate" the medical healthcare system.

Peer partners, advocates, case managers, community workers, consumers, family members, NAMI members and others can be trained.

View a video on the Training.

Why is Health Navigation Necessary?

For many reasons that are unique to each person, mental health consumers find it difficult to visit a medical doctor and seek help for their physical illnesses. Many of these consumers might go years without visiting a doctor despite being in poor health.

What is a Health Navigator?

Health Navigators are crucial to the implementation of health care reform in providing integration services. Health Navigators are behavioral health peers, paraprofessionals, and professionals who are trained to help people with a serious mental illness self-manage their physical health care and wellness needs.

Health Navigation Competencies

Health Navigators connect mental health consumers with the health care system. In order to become a Certified Health Navigator, participants must complete the PCTI/USC Health Navigation Certification training and must demonstrate successful completion of core competencies by successfully engaging in Health Navigation with consumers.

Intervention Model

For Them - Health Navigators perform tasks with consumers as consumers observe

With Them - Consumers perform tasks and Health Navigators coach them as needed

By Them - Turn it over to the consumer to self-manage healthcare with support as needed

Healthcare Reform and Health Navigation

PCTI's Health Navigation training teaches consumers how to "navigate" through a complex system, empowering them to understand how to better access integrated physical health, substance use and mental health services while reducing disparities to healthcare access and improving healthcare outcomes.

Co-Occurring Disorders & Cultural Considerations

The Health Navigation program provides services based on the unique needs, cultural perceptions and barriers of mental health consumers, including consumers who are diagnosed with co-occurring disorders. The Training Program addresses strategies for working with and empowering consumers with co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders.