Overview of domain 4
Domain 4 helps you identify routes to engage key staff, build awareness and improve education around IPN management, and support service users throughout the IPN management care pathway.
Why engagement, education and equity matter
Awareness, understanding and involvement are vital to the functioning of an IPN management programme. It needs healthcare professionals who understand, participate in and refer into the service; and service users who have clear, accessible information and guidance to support their involvement. Addressing barriers related to health literacy, language and culture helps programmes to provide equitable, person-centred care from the outset.
What this domain covers
Domain 4 guides you through:
Involvement of health system staff
- Secure staff buy-in by educating them on the importance of IPN management and providing additional support to enable their involvement.
- Identify the departments that will engage with the programme, and implement protocols (such as education) to ensure they do.
- Leverage existing staff education processes to sustain understanding of the importance of IPN management and to provide extra support for non-thoracic specialists.
- Use early programme outcomes to promote the programme further among health system staff.
Involvement of service users
- Identify and leverage existing communication mechanisms to notify patients of incidental findings and of the programme, including by designing and implementing patient-facing educational materials.
- Manage non-responsive patients through existing outreach protocols.
- Use patient navigation to overcome access barriers and improve education for service users.
- Leverage existing health literacy initiatives to support patient understanding of, and engagement with, the programme, including identifying and addressing health equity concerns and/or cultural sensitivities.
Resources
The role of patient navigation in IPN management programmes
DownloadFurther reading
- BTS quality standards for the investigation and management of pulmonary nodules (British Thoracic Society, 2018)
- Evaluation of individuals with pulmonary nodules: when is it lung cancer? Diagnosis and management of lung cancer, 3rd edn: evidence-based clinical practice guidelines (Gould et al., 2013)
- Initial pulmonary nodule management for the generalist: a brief review (Friesen et al., 2025)
- Incidental pulmonary nodules: what should we do in 2026? (Schmid-Bindert et al., 2026)
- Best practice guide for building lung cancer early detection programs (American Cancer Society & National Lung Cancer Roundtable)
- ACR Appropriateness Criteria® incidentally detected indeterminate pulmonary nodule (Expert Panel on Thoracic Imaging, 2023)
- Management strategies to promote follow-up care for incidental findings: a scoping review (Crable et al., 2021)