Personal Social Networks and Care-Seeking for Head and Neck Cancer: A Qualitative Study

Objectives: To investigate the role of patients' personal social networks (SNs) in accessing head and neck cancer (HNC) care through patients' and health care workers' (HCWs) perspectives.

Study design: Qualitative study.

Setting: Tertiary HNC centers at 2 academic medical centers, including 1 safety net hospital.

Methods: Patients with newly diagnosed HNC, and HCWs caring for HNC patients, aged ≥18 years were recruited between June 2022 and July 2023. Semistructured interviews were conducted with both patients and HCWs. Inductive and deductive thematic analysis was performed with 2 coders (κ = 0.82) to analyze the data.

Results: The study included 72 participants: 42 patients (mean age 57 years, 64% female, 81% white), and 30 HCWs (mean age 42 years, 77% female, 83% white). Four themes emerged: (1) Patients' SNs facilitate care through various forms of support, (2) patients may hesitate to seek help from their networks, (3) obligations toward SNs may act as barriers to seeking care, and (4) the SN composition and dedication influence care-seeking.

Conclusion: Personal SNs play a vital role in prompting early care-seeking among HNC patients. SN-based interventions could enhance care and improve outcomes for HNC patients.