Imagine trying to juggle multiple needs like worrying about stable housing, putting food on the table, and finding mental health support all at the same time. It’s hard to know where to start.

Who do you call first? What services are available? And how do you even access them?

Without clear guidance, the system can feel overwhelming. People are left to navigate a maze of referrals, appointments, and eligibility requirements on their own. The result? People fall through the cracks. They miss out on critical services and, over time, lose trust in the very systems meant to support them.

That’s where care navigation and care coordination change things.

Instead of expecting individuals to figure everything out on their own, care navigation and care coordination shift the burden to a dedicated professional who helps connect the dots, making it easier for people to access the care and resources they need.

What does care coordination actually look like?

Since care coordination is based on each client’s unique goals, it always looks different. From working together to get a new ID to setting up doctors’ appointments and navigating the housing voucher process, all care coordination is grounded in four simple, powerful processes:

• Engaging: Building trust with individuals with complex health and social needs.

• Assessing: Identifying and understanding a person’s social and health concerns and needs and identifying services they might be eligible for.

• Supporting: Co-developing a care plan that centers the person’s goals and priorities and nurtures their belief and ability to meet these goals.

• Connecting: Assisting the person to access community resources and clinical services.

Together, these four processes serve as a standard for fostering a more consistent, person-centered approach across settings, roles, and populations. This approach is flexible, practical, and based on proven strategies that improve outcomes and help people get the support they deserve.

Training developed for the community-based workforce

Camden Coalition and Uncommon Solutions created an interactive, online course, Introduction to Care Coordination Standards, based on the collective experience of community-based care coordinators working on the ground at or with Accountable Health Communities sites. The training helps teams align using standards based on best practices developed for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Accountable Health Communities model to address health-related social needs. In February 2026, CMS published a final evaluation of the model, finding that AHC was associated with lower Medicaid expenditures and hospital-based utilization.

In Washington state, for example, this course is used to train all community health workers and other peer navigators across nine Accountable Communities of Health (ACHs).  The course provides learners with a comprehensive set of integrated skills and knowledge needed to implement the community-based care coordination standards rather than siloed segments or units. Community health workers and others working on the frontlines said that the course helped them build relationships and support people in meeting their goals, with over 90% of learners in Washington reporting that the course met their needs very well or completely.

Ready to put this into practice?

If you want to confidently apply these four processes in your work, deepen your impact, and better support the people you serve, Introduction to Care Coordination Standards is now available across the country. The course, co-developed by Uncommon Solutions and the Camden Coalition, is for anyone who is coordinating or navigating care, including care coordinators and navigators, case managers, care community health workers, trusted care partners, and more. It teaches learners to effectively build trusting relationships, understand a person’s goals, and support them in achieving those goals.

Like all of the courses on the Camden Coalition Learning Center, this course includes videos, case studies, discussion questions, and downloadable resources and tools to use in the field. Access this course and all the courses on the Camden Coalition Learning Center with a subscription.