Cancer navigation services provide physical, spiritual, emotional, logistical, and financial support. You may not need all of these services, but cancer navigators are some of the best people to help you figure out what you do and don’t need.

What and Who Is a Cancer Navigator?

A cancer navigator is a specially-trained support person. Their job is to support you and your loved ones and help you navigate your cancer journey. Cancer navigators can be nurses, social workers, or even cancer survivors. They may be employees of your cancer care center or medical facility, or volunteers.

Who Needs a Cancer Navigator?

Anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer can benefit from working with a cancer navigator. Sometimes cancer navigators also work with families of people diagnosed with cancer.

While your healthcare providers take care of diagnosing and treating your cancer, cancer navigators help you meet your basic needs.

What Types of Support Do Cancer Navigation Services Provide?

When you first meet with a cancer care navigator, they will most likely start by asking you some questions, such as:

1. How much do you know about your cancer?

2. How much do you want to know about your cancer?

3. What are you hoping for?

4. What are you most worried about?

5. What will make your cancer diagnosis or treatment easier for you?

By asking you questions about what you need and what might keep you from getting cancer care, they can help make sure that all your needs are met. Those needs may be:

• Physical and practical, such as transportation or interpreting and translating medical information.

• Spiritual, connecting you with religious groups or supportive organizations that align with your faith.

• Emotional and mental health support, such as connecting you and your family with support groups, therapists, and counselors.

• Nutritional, such as making sure you have enough food or the right kind of food during your cancer treatment.

• Logistical, such as scheduling and coordination of multiple appointments with different healthcare providers.

• Financial, such as navigating insurance coverage, workers’ compensation payments, or finding low-cost or free care and services.

What Cancer Care Navigators Are Not

Cancer care navigators do not actually provide treatment. They will not order tests, give medications, or make treatment recommendations. They will work closely with the other clinical people on your cancer treatment team, such as nurses, healthcare providers, physician assistants, and other medical professionals, to help coordinate your care. They can work as a bridge, connecting you to the broader healthcare system.

Cancer Care Navigators are not genetic counselors either. Today, there are special tests for certain types of cancers that can be passed down by family members or those that cause changes in your genes. Genetic screening for cancer is one type of cancer prevention, but it can raise complicated ethical and moral issues.

Genetic counselors have special training in genetics, which cancer care navigators do not. If you have concerns about cancers that run in your family or you belong to an ethnic group with a higher risk for certain genetic cancers, you should talk with a genetic cancer specialist or genetic counselor, not a cancer care navigator. However, if you are diagnosed with cancer, a cancer care navigator might help you schedule an appointment with a genetic counselor and make sure that your insurance covers the cost of the visit and any testing.

What Are the Benefits of Cancer Navigation Services?

Since the 1990s, when cancer navigation services began in New York City, many studies have shown that these services improve both health outcomes and the quality of survivors’ lives. Some of the proven benefits are:

• Fewer barriers to care: Shorter waiting times for appointments, earlier cancer treatment, shorter time to diagnosis and starting treatment, and more people participating in routine cancer screenings for cancer prevention.

• Improved care coordination and more people following through on treatment plans: Improved referrals, better communication between healthcare providers and patients, and more patients attending follow-up appointments, tests, procedures, and treatments.

• Better health outcomes: Fewer patients dying, fewer hospital readmissions, fewer Emergency Room visits.

• Improved patient satisfaction: Patients and families receiving cancer navigation services report a better quality of life.

How to Find Cancer Navigation Services for You or a Loved One

Your healthcare provider or cancer care center should offer you cancer care navigation services. Other places to look are:

• Local health departments

• Community organizations

• Online directories and forums specializing in cancer care

• Comprehensive cancer websites, such as the American Cancer Society

While they don’t provide medical care, advice, or treatments, cancer navigation services play a critical role in supporting you on your cancer journey. In the complicated world of cancer care, they can help you shoulder the burdens of cancer treatment. Their job is to take care of the human going through the cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Does Everlywell have tests for Cancer?

Yes, Everlywell offers two cancer screening tests: the FIT Colon Cancer Screening Test and the GalleriⓇ Multi-Cancer Early Detection Test. Neither test can tell you whether or not you have cancer. They are not diagnostic. Everlywell cancer tests can tell you whether or not you might be at increased risk for certain types of cancer.

Does Everlywell offer cancer navigation services?

No. Everlywell offers virtual healthcare appointments with expert nurse practitioners who can advise you on routine cancer screenings, what your test results mean, and how a healthy lifestyle can be part of your cancer prevention plan.

How long do I have to wait for my Everlywell test results?

Most test results will be available 7-10 days after mailing your test sample to the lab. For the Galleri test, your sample will arrive at the lab 1 to 2 business days after your blood draw. Test results will be available about 2-4 weeks after your sample is received at the GRAIL lab. Once you register your test, you can track the status of your sample processing in your MyEverly Dashboard.

What do I do if my Everlywell cancer test comes back positive?

It can be scary if your blood cancer test is positive. Remember that a positive blood test result does not mean you have cancer. Your result only tells you that you need to look more closely into why you have this positive result. Generally, it's best to talk with a healthcare provider about your positive test result and plan your next steps.