The EveryONE Project™: Using the Neighborhood Navigator
By Kevin Kovach, DrPH, MSc
The Neighborhood Navigator is one of the successful tools provided through The EveryONE Project™ to help family physicians address social determinants of health (SDOHs) at the point of care. Neighborhood Navigator is equipped to accommodate more than 100 languages and is integrated with Google Maps to offer users step-by-step directions to community resources. Family physicians and their practice teams can use this interactive tool during patient visits to connect them to social services in their area that can provide help with such needs as food, housing, transportation, employment, and legal or financial issues. Physicians also can refer patients to a patient-facing version of the tool — Neighborhood Navigator tool on familydoctor.org(navigator.familydoctor.org) — to enable them to locate services that meet their social needs on their own.
The EveryONE Project™ offers a series of training videos to walk family physicians and their practice teams through using the Neighborhood Navigator tool. Family physicians can create a practice account (Figure 1) that all staff members can use to connect patients electronically and bidirectionally with a community resource and create resource profiles that can be easily accessed.
Figure 1
In addition, through the “Support” button on the website (Figure 2), users can suggest additions or updates to the database if they are aware of new resources or updates for programs and resources. Patients can also create their own profile on Neighborhood Navigator which can be used to highlight specific programs and resources they would be using more frequently.
Figure 2
Neighborhood Navigator is a valuable resource that can help family physicians and their practice teams extend their care for patients beyond the walls of their practice by providing the next steps in care using additional community-based programs. For more information on the Neighborhood Navigator and other AAFP tools to address social determinants of health and improve health equity, visit The EveryONE Project ( https://www.aafp.org/patient-care/social-determinants-of-health/everyone-project.html).