LAUSR

Background: Cancer patients in Nigeria are known to present late and have poor awareness of their disease. Among the factors which limit early presentation are aversion for orthodox medicine due to perceived complexity of health institutions, and belief in superiority of traditional medicine. Patient navigation has been shown to improve patient treatment adherence. There is limited evidence on the impact of PN in Nigeria, and other resource-limited settings. Aim: Study sought to introduce a hospital-based patient navigation program (PNP) and evaluate its impact. Methods: PNP was initiated at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital in June 2016 with focus on breast cancer patients. A young, male public health officer, who spoke the local language was recruited and trained to guide cancer breast patients through the hospital. Training focused on hospital services, sensitive communications, patient management process, confidentiality and resource identification. The service was announced to the hospital comm...