A Health Navigator intervention to address the unmet social needs of caregivers of hospitalised children in South Australia: Protocol for a mixed-methods pilot study
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Interventions that identify patients' unmet social needs and provide referrals to government and community resources are growing rapidly across healthcare settings. In Australia, research is limited. This protocol paper presents the methodology for a pilot study assessing the feasibility and acceptability of integrating a Health Navigator (HN) intervention into an inpatient paediatric setting that serves a socially disadvantaged population in South Australia. METHODS: We will conduct a mixed-methods feasibility and acceptability study of a HN intervention designed to respond to the unmet social needs identified by caregivers of children admitted to the Children's Ward of the Lyell McEwin Hospital. We will recruit a maximum of 60 participants over a three-month recruitment period, to be assisted by two HNs over a four-month follow-up period. Our primary feasibility outcomes are rates of 1) intervention recruitment, 2) intervention retention and 3) intervention completion. We have selected a ≥ 80% threshold for feasibility success across all outcomes. Feasibility and acceptability will also be assessed using focus groups with clinicians, participants and community service providers, to explore barriers and enablers to integrating the HN intervention in the ward setting. Secondary outcomes include screening rates for unmet social needs, changes in participants' unmet social needs pre/post-HN intervention and participant satisfaction with the HN service. DISCUSSION: This study will contribute to the understanding of how HN interventions establish holistic 'community-facing' hospitals, connecting vulnerable populations to appropriate resources for the enhancement of participants' overall health and wellbeing. Our feasibility and acceptability data will inform the design of future trials, as we refine the HN intervention to better suit the needs of socially disadvantaged populations in South Australia. PROTOCOL VERSION: Version 1, date 23/01/2024. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial was prospectively registered in the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry (registration ID: ACTRN12624000494538).
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Caregivers in Alberta, like those across Canada and in most countries, remain the de facto system navigators, often acting as case managers without training or support.
“Caregivers in Alberta, like those across Canada and in most countries, remain the de facto system navigators [4,29,30].”
From Home care comparison (2026) · cites this paper as [29]
The Background and Methods (pages unavailable) describe a proposed Health Navigator intervention for caregivers of hospitalised children in South Australia. They do not say that caregivers in Alberta, across Canada, or in most countries are de facto system navigators, or that they act as case managers without training or support. Searches for those terms and for caregivers navigating services independently found no supporting passage. (LLM, conf=0.72)
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- [25]Massar RE, Berry CA, Paul MM. Social needs screening and referral in pediatric primary care clinics: a multiple case study. BMC Health Serv Res. 2022. 10.1186/s12913-022-08692-x. 36397075 PMC9673422 · DOI
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Alberta, G. O., Mitchell, E. A., Services, A. H., Slaughter, E. A., Cruz, E. A., Haunch, E. A., Awosoga, E. A., & Parmar, E. A. (2026) · doi:10.3390/ijerph23010137 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Caregivers in Alberta, like those across Canada and in most countries, remain the de facto system navigators [4,29,30].”
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“Further detail is available in the published research protocol [21].”
Self-citation
- Authors
- Neadley, K. E., Downes, M., Chan, L., Poirier, B., Lynch, J., Boyd, M., & Shoubridge, C.
- Affiliations
- Adelaide University (AU)
- SA Health (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Neadley, Kate Emily
- Venue
- Pilot and Feasibility Studies
- Published
- 2025-09-26
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 119-119
- ISSN
- 2055-5784 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC12466061
- OpenAlex
- W4414554892
- Cited by
- 2
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2
- FWCI
- 2.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Pilot and Feasibility Studies (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- medRxiv (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Hospital Research Foundation
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Child and Adolescent Health
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Policy Implementation Science
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Emergency Medicine › Emergency and Acute Care Studies
- Keywords
- health navigators, unmet social needs, pediatric hospitalization, disadvantaged groups, feasibility and acceptability, social determinants of health, hospital inpatient ward, resource referral, South Australia
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