Nav-CARE Symposium

The Nav-CARE pre-conference symposium will take place on Thursday, October 23rd, 2025, from 8 AM to 12:00PM.

Growing Volunteer Capacity: An introduction to training competent volunteer navigators

Volunteer navigation is developing around the world as an important compassionate community intervention. Volunteer navigators have the potential to be an essential part of the continuum of care for those experiencing declining health. The purpose of this workshop is to provide an interactive experience with the education designed to prepare volunteers for navigation in home-like settings.

The education profiled in this workshop has been developed as part of the evidence-based Nav-CARE (Navigation: Connecting, Accessing, Resourcing, Engaging) program in which volunteers work one-on-one with clients in the home to facilitate access to resources through a relationally-based model. Nav-CARE is a well-established program that has been implemented widely throughout Canada and in Europe. The online volunteer training is available in both English and French free of charge.

By the end of this four-hour workshop participants will:

  • Develop an understanding of the relationship of volunteer navigation to the compassionate community movement.
  • Understand the role and boundaries of volunteer navigation as outlined in the Nav-CARE program.
  • Apply the following volunteer navigation competencies: understanding quality of life; supporting self-advocacy; identifying and facilitating access to resources; promoting engagement; navigating through technology; and supporting persons living with dementia.
  • Consider the organizational factors necessary to support a program of volunteer navigation.

Workshop Style: This workshop will be predominantly interactive. Short didactic talks introducing the participants to key ideas will be followed by individual and small group learning activities in which they will have the opportunity to apply and explore those ideas.  Round tables will be used to share learnings that participants bring from their own experiences related to compassionate communities, volunteerism, and developing volunteer education.

Workshop Outcomes: The overall goal of the workshop is to support participants to decide whether volunteer navigation education is a good fit for their own personal development or for the development of their organizational volunteers.

Disclosure: This workshop will be facilitated through a contribution by Health Canada (2024-2027)