On 5 November 2025, EU Navigate partner AGE Platform Europe organised a User Forum with its members active on dignified and healthy ageing. The discussion gathered eleven older people’s representatives from Cyprus, France, Germany, Malta, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Spain and Denmark to explore enablers and barriers to implementing navigation services for older people with cancer – and what is needed to ensure their long-term success.

Making Navigation Services Accessible and Trusted

Participants underlined that navigation services are most effective when they are part of a coordinated care system recognised by both professionals and older people.

Awareness and trust are key: older people with cancer need to clearly understand what navigators do and hear about positive experiences from their peers. Health professionals, especially in hospitals, should also be informed so they can refer patients to these services.

Trust is strengthened when well-known organisations, such as national cancer societies or the Red Cross, endorse navigation services. Local outreach – for example through municipal networks or community volunteers – is essential to ensure equitable access, especially in rural areas.

Participants also highlighted the importance of continuity of contact with the same navigator, and of providing navigators with adequate training, supervision, and emotional support. Clear boundaries between professional and volunteer roles help prevent burnout and ensure navigators complement, rather than replace, professional care.

Addressing System Barriers

Older people living in rural or disadvantaged areas often face additional barriers due to a lack of local services or volunteers. This makes navigation support even more crucial, but also harder to provide.

Participants called for better outreach and referral systems, such as closer cooperation with general practitioners or community organisations.

Examples of good practices that navigation could build on already exist across Europe:

• In Malta, support services for older people with cancer are run by the government.
• In Cyprus, NGOs provide psychological and transport support for patients and families.
• In Denmark and the UK, volunteers accompany people at the end of life through initiatives like “watchwives” and “death doulas.”

Effective coordination between navigators and existing local services was seen as more important than full integration into medical teams.

Supporting Families and Carers

User forum participants stressed that navigators can also play a valuable role in supporting informal carers, provided this happens with the consent of the older person with cancer.

Navigators can help carers access information, emotional support, or respite – as long as this remains complementary to the main focus on the person with cancer. Clear communication and boundaries between all parties are key.

Some participants suggested developing dedicated navigation services for carers, allowing them to receive tailored support without overloading navigators.

Ensuring Long-Term Sustainability

There was broad agreement that navigation services must be adapted to each country’s health and social care systems. A legally established organisation, such as a recognised NGO, should provide training, supervision, and liability coverage for volunteers.

Public authorities have an important role to play in ensuring coordination and stable funding, possibly complemented by private fundraising.

While in-person contact remains at the heart of navigation, remote or digital support can help reach more people and maintain regular communication. Participants also saw potential to extend navigation models to other conditions, such as dementia, to promote continuity of care and social support for older people across Europe.

The findings from the User Forum will feed into the EU Navigate policy recommendations at the conclusion of the project.

Written by Vera Hörmann