Spotlight interview - Navigation without borders: Transforming the cancer care journey across populations through navigation

Spotlight interview - Navigation without borders: Transforming the cancer care journey across populations through navigation

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Spotlight interview

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The Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators (AONN+) is the largest professional organization dedicated to individuals who guide patients through the complexities of cancer care. Since its founding, AONN+ has been a champion for the critical role of the navigator, advancing standards, research, and education that define best practices across the continuum of care. What began as a national movement has evolved into a global voice, reflecting the growing recognition that navigation is essential to improving patient outcomes, enhancing experiences, and addressing disparities in access to care.

Navigators serve as trusted advocates, ensuring patients and their families understand treatment options, overcome barriers, and connect with supportive resources. AONN+ supports this work by offering evidence-based tools, competency frameworks, and professional development opportunities that empower navigators to deliver consistent, high-quality care no matter where patients live. The organization’s focus on equity is central—recognizing that every patient, regardless of geography, race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status, deserves a clear path to timely, effective treatment.

By uniting a diverse community of professionals, AONN+ continues to elevate the navigator’s impact on the care journey while shaping the global evolution of this vital role in modern oncology.

Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators (AONN+)The Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators (AONN+) is the largest national specialty organization dedicated to improving patient care and quality of life by defining, enhancing, and promoting the role of oncology nurse and patient navigators. Our organization of over 8,900 members was founded in May 2009 to provide a network for all professionals involved and interested in patient navigation and survivorship care services to better manage the complexities of the cancer care treatment continuum for their patients. We view our organization as one consisting of “professional patient advocates” and, to that end, we support and serve our members. Mission The mission of AONN+ is to advance the role of patient navigation in cancer care across the care continuum by providing a network for collaboration, leadership, and development of best practices for the improvement of patient access to care, evidence-based cancer treatment, and quality of life. Vision The vision of the Academy of Oncology Nurse and Patient Navigators (AONN+) is to achieve, through effective navigation, patient-centered superior quality cancer care coordination from pre-diagnosis through survivorship/end of life.

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