A Massey University researcher says the success of Māori cancer navigators operating out of Māori and iwi health providers in the MidCentral DHB region means the programme should be rolled out nationally.
The concept was created in 1990 by Dr Harold Freeman in Harlem in the United States as a way of promoting timely access to quality cancer care for people from vulnerable populations.
Monica Koia, who completed her doctoral thesis on the service, found it was effective in helping Māori patients and their whānau, overcome barriers many felt in accessing care.
"Because as you know many of our whānau find it challenging to access cancer care services or even attend the GP. Because of the cost, the unfriendliness of the services sometimes when they do get there and the multitude of health professionals once they do enter the service that whānau have to deal with," Dr Koia says.
As part of her research Dr Koia developed a model, He Pito Ora, describing the key principles of a Māori cancer patient navigation service which she hopes can be used as part of a national roll out.
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