ArticleBMC palliative care2020
A mixed-method evaluation of a volunteer navigation intervention for older persons living with chronic illness (Nav-CARE): findings from a knowledge translation study.
Article in BMC palliative care, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Key themes and approaches in palliative and end-of-life care education for the general public: a systematic review.BMC palliative care · 2025Pooled it
- Scoping review on navigation interventions for older adults with cancer in Europe and beyond.European geriatric medicine · 2026Review
- The evolving role and impact of patient navigators in serious illness care: a narrative review.Annals of palliative medicine · 2026Review
- Strategies used by organizations to scale deep: Lessons from a volunteer navigation intervention.Palliative care and social practice · 2026Article
- Reducing health and cancer disparities: an environmental scan of three promising health care access interventions in Alberta, Canada.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Article
- Successful Aging With Innovations in Technology and Housing.The Gerontologist · 2025Article
- Volunteer navigators to support people with life-limiting illness in the community.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2025Article
- Article
- Adapting, implementing and evaluating a navigation intervention for older people with cancer and their family caregivers in six countries in Europe: the Horizon Europe-funded EU NAVIGATE project.Palliative care and social practice · 2024Article
- Factors associated with the perceived need for assistance from voluntary services in home-based older adults in Chinese urban areas: a cross-sectional study.BMC geriatrics · 2023Article
- Developing competencies for volunteer navigators to support caregivers of children living with medical complexity: a mixed-method e-Delphi study.Palliative care and social practice · 2023Article
- How do inner and outer settings affect implementation of a community-based innovation for older adults with a serious illness: a qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundVolunteer navigation is an innovative way to help older persons get connected to resources in their community that they may not know about or have difficulty accessing. Nav-CARE is an intervention in which volunteers, who are trained in navigation, provide services for older persons living at home with chronic illness to improve their quality of life. The goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of Nav-CARE on volunteers, older persons, and family participating across eight Canadian sites.
methodsNav-CARE was implemented using a knowledge translation approach in eight sites using a 12- or 18-month intervention period. A mixed method evaluation was used to understand the outcomes upon older person engagement; volunteer self-efficacy; and older person, family, and volunteer quality of life and satisfaction with the intervention.
resultsOlder persons and family were highly satisfied with the intervention, citing benefits of social connection and support, help with negotiating the social aspects of healthcare, access to cost-effective resources, and family respite. They were less satisfied with the practical help available for transportation and errands. Older persons self-reported knowledge of the services available to them and confidence in making decisions about their healthcare showed statistically significant improvements (P < .05) over 12-18 months. Volunteers reported satisfaction with their role, particularly as it related to building relationships over time, and good self-efficacy. Volunteer attrition was a result of not recruiting older persons in a timely manner. There was no statistically significant improvement in quality of life for older persons, family or volunteers from baseline to study completion.
conclusionsFindings from this study support a developing body of evidence showing the contributions volunteers make to enhanced older person and family well-being in the context of chronic illness. Statistically significant improvements were documented in aspects of client engagement. However, there were no statistically significant improvements in quality of life scores even though qualitative data illustrated very specific positive outcomes of the intervention. Similar findings in other volunteer-led intervention studies raise the question of whether there is a need for targeted volunteer-sensitive outcome measures.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.