Promising Practices Supporting the Sustainability of Patient Navigation: A Learning Collaborative

The American Cancer Society National Navigation Roundtable (ACS NNRT) and the Leadership in Oncology Navigation (LION™) team have developed a Patient Navigation Sustainability Learning Collaborative which is a structured professional education program that will support participants in strengthening the standardization, effectiveness, and long-term sustainability for high-quality patient navigation programs.

This learning collaborative was designed to support cancer centers and patient navigation teams in assessing, planning for, and strengthening high-quality patient navigation programs by applying the Promising Practices Supporting the Sustainability of Patient Navigation: An Implementation Guide and the Patient Navigation Sustainability Assessment Tool (PNSAT).

Applications are being accepted until July 15, 2026.

Learning Collaborative Application Form

Goals/Aims for this ACS NNRT & LION™ Learning Collaborative: 

  • Advance Sustainable Patient Navigation Practice 
    Strengthen participants’ understanding of the core principles and domains that support the long-term sustainability and impact of patient navigation programs. 
  • Build Organizational Insight and Strategic Readiness 
    Support participants in developing a comprehensive, systems-level understanding of their navigation program’s current capacity, readiness, and sustainability within their organizational context. 
  • Strengthen Strategic Planning and Continuous Improvement 
    Empower participants to translate assessment findings into strategic priorities and action-oriented plans that promote program growth, resilience, and measurable outcomes. 
  • Enhance Leadership, Communication, and Advocacy Capacity 
    Build participants’ confidence and ability to effectively communicate the value, needs, and outcomes of patient navigation programs to administrators, leadership, and key decision-makers. 

Specific Objectives:

By participating in the Learning Collaborative, participants will: 

  1. Deepen understanding of navigation sustainability domains 
    Increase knowledge and practical understanding of the eight sustainability domains within the PNSAT Framework through structured learning and real-world case studies, including: 
    • Engaged Staff and Leadership  
    • Organizational Context and Capacity
    • Funding Stability
    • Engaged Community
    • Communication, Planning, and Implementation
    • Workflow Integration
    • Monitoring and Evaluation
    • Outcomes and Effectiveness
    • Note: Each learning collaborative cohort will include education on the eight domains for sustainability with a specific focus on pre-determined domains. The first cohort will focus on Communications, Planning and Implementations, Workflow Integration and Monitoring and Evaluation.
  1. Assess their program sustainability and readiness 
    The Learning Collaborative will support participating sites in completing baseline and follow-up PNSAT assessments to identify program strengths, gaps, and priority areas for improvement, using concepts and tools from the Promising Practices Implementation Guide. 
  1. Focus improvement efforts for actionable learning  Participating in a collaborative-wide focus on two to three prioritized domains, while maintaining awareness of all eight domains. 
  1. Develop and apply an Implementation Action Plan 
    Enable participants to create a feasible, context-specific Implementation Action Plan informed by PNSAT results, the Promising Practices Implementation Guide, and Learning Collaborative content to advance navigation program sustainability. 
  2. Foster a national community of practice  Establish and strengthen a national community of practice that promotes shared learning, peer support, and sustained commitment to navigation program sustainability as a core component of comprehensive oncology care. 

Participants: 

Participants will be up to 20 cancer centers (2 people from each) representing diverse geographies, program sizes, and populations served. Ideally, each site includes a Navigation Team Lead and Administrative or Institutional Champion. Program staff are from ACS NNRT and ACS LION™ as well as leadership.  

Patient Navigation Sustainability Learning Collaborative 2026_FinalDownload