DENVER — For Coloradans who worry about how they’ll be able to pay for healthcare costs or who don’t speak English as their first language, accessing care for cancer can be challenging. But patient navigators are helping make it faster, easier and cheaper to schedule appointments, get screenings, treatment and financial assistance.
“Healthcare shouldn't be a big, scary, intimidating thing,” said Samantha Garcia, a bilingual English-Spanish patient navigator at the University of Colorado Cancer Center.
“When I talk to my patients, I like to make them feel like they're getting the VIP experience,” she said. “It helps having someone from your cultura, from your culture, that speaks your language, to be that bridge.”
More than 21% – or roughly one million – Coloradans identify as Hispanic or Latino. Language and cultural barriers can sometimes get in the way of them accessing care, which Garcia knows firsthand.
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Garcia grew up walking with her Abuelita, her grandma, to her doctor's appointments.
“I found myself interpreting for her all the time,” she said, and now she does that for others through the Cancer Center.
“When you give people information, you empower them, and that helps them take their healthcare into their own hands,” she said.
That was the experience María Duenas-Gomez had as a patient working with Garcia.
Duenas-Gomez lost her mother to cancer earlier this year. She was going to a support group to cope with the grief. Then she started feeling symptoms, including blood in her stool.
“We, as Hispanics, we kind of close ourselves off and think, ‘oh, how am I going to say that I feel this way or how to say that I have these symptoms?’” she said.
But after going through the experience with her mom, and thinking of her own children, she went to see her doctor.
“He did the tests and he was not at all satisfied with my results,” she said.
Her doctor recommended a colonoscopy. But when she tried to book an appointment, “it was too expensive and I had to pay immediately,” she said. “Often you limit yourself first, because of the language, and second, because of the cost.”
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Then, she learned about the patient navigators at the Cancer Center. The leader of her support group gave her Garcia’s phone number.
Within days of talking with Garcia, Duenas-Gomez had an appointment – free of cost.
“I felt very blessed and grateful,” she said. “When they talk to you in your language and they help you in your language… you feel comfortable.”
Duenas-Gomez’s tests came back clean – no cancer. It was a relief. Now she feels more confident reaching out for help, and she’s learned more about how to take care of herself to prevent cancer in the future, or at least detect it early.
To those who are embarrassed or afraid to talk about cancer or symptoms they’re experiencing, she said “do not limit yourself.”
Garcia hopes more Coloradans will start accessing the patient navigator program.
“Our goal is to hit the four corners of the state,” and to cover the costs for those who are uninsured or underinsured, she said.
Here are some resources, available in English and Spanish:
The patient navigators can help with every step in the cancer care process, including getting into clinical trials, which often test new treatments. Garcia's hope in the next year is to sign up more Latinos for clinical trials, so that they are better represented in the improvement of treatment options.
You can learn more about the patient navigator program by visiting the Cancer Center's website or emailing coe@cuanschutz.edu. You can also call or text the navigators at their Google Voice number (720) 441-2529. Spanish speaking patients who aren’t insured or are underinsured can ask for a free at home Colorectal Screening Kit (FIT Kit), request a free Radon test kit for their home and other resources on quiting smoking or vaping and protecting yourself from the sun.
If you're interested in registering for a free Clinical Trial Education Session, you can sign up here. Garcia will call you to coordinate a date and time at your earliest convenience.
If you're looking for where to access cancer screenings, join a clinical trial or get cancer treatment, you can take a look at this interactive map from the University of Colorado.
Puedes obtener más información sobre el programa de navegación de pacientes visitando el sitio web del Cancer Center o enviando un correo electrónico a coe@cuanschutz.edu. También puedes llamar o enviar un mensaje de texto a los navegadores a su número de Google Voice (720) 441-2529. Los pacientes hispanohablantes que no tienen seguro médico o que tienen un seguro insuficiente pueden solicitar un kit de detección colorrectal para el hogar (kit FIT) gratuito, solicitar un kit de prueba de radón gratuito para su hogar y otros recursos sobre cómo dejar de fumar o vapear y protegerse del sol.
Si estás buscando dónde hacerse exámenes de detección de cáncer, unirse a un ensayo clínico o recibir tratamiento contra el cáncer, puedes encontrar las opciones más cercanas a donde vives en este mapa interactivo de la Universidad de Colorado.
Si estás interesado en registrarse para una sesión educativa gratuita sobre ensayos clínicos en español, regístrese aquí. García lo llamará para programar una fecha y hora lo antes posible.
This story is the third in a series. The other parts about why disparities exist and why early detection improves outcomes aired on Monday, Sept. 9 and Wednesday, Sept. 11.
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