Too often, cancer care can miss patients’ biggest obstacles to treatment: social, behavioral, and emotional barriers, which happen outside of the clinic.
Patients may be managing depression after diagnosis, struggling to afford transportation to appointments, or facing housing or food insecurity while undergoing treatment. These realities directly affect whether someone can stay engaged in care.
At Thyme Care, we believe addressing those challenges is central to improving outcomes. Our new Integrated Social Support Team - made up of oncology-trained social workers, behavioral health specialists, and care partners - helps ensure life’s circumstances don’t derail cancer treatment.
Cancer doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Even the best treatment plan can falter when patients face social, behavioral, or emotional barriers.
“Cancer doesn’t just happen to someone’s body — it happens to their whole life. And the truth is, no one gets to put their life down when they get diagnosed,” says Stephanie Broussard, Director of Social Work at Thyme Care.
Research increasingly shows that social determinants of health and behavioral health challenges influence whether patients complete treatment and stay engaged in care.
The negative downstream implications of these barriers can impact health plans, providers, and patients alike, owing to:
And despite their impact, social and behavioral support remain limited across much of oncology care. At Thyme Care, we view social work as essential infrastructure for delivering high-quality, equitable cancer care.
The addition of licensed clinical and master’s-level social workers can layer on top of legacy provider models. They provide expertise that goes beyond traditional care coordination, including:
“People sometimes hear ‘social worker’ and think child protection or crisis,” Broussard explains. “But we’re here to prevent crisis — to stabilize, support, and make sure life’s challenges don’t become barriers to cancer care.”
When integrated early in patients’ cancer care, social workers help patients stay connected to care and adhere to treatment plans.
At Thyme Care, social work is embedded directly into our Care Team. We’ve onboarded a large team of licensed social workers who support our members through two specialized programs:
Behavioral Health Pod
Licensed clinical social workers provide counseling, emotional support, and crisis intervention for members experiencing anxiety, depression, or adjustment challenges related to their diagnosis.
“It could look like supporting someone exploring mortality, adjusting to diagnosis, or grieving their illness,” Broussard says. “Or it could be helping someone with schizophrenia navigate the cancer system.”
Members receive weekly outreach from both nurses and social workers to ensure consistent support.
Advanced Social Needs Pod
This team addresses complex social determinants that interfere with treatment, including housing instability, food insecurity, transportation barriers, and financial toxicity.
“Sometimes we can’t fix systemic issues,” Broussard says. “But we can make sure being unhoused doesn’t prevent someone from getting their chemo.”
Care partners and social workers work in tandem to address both immediate needs and long-term barriers.
“When a care partner hears someone is without food, they find a food bank,” Broussard explains. “When a social worker hears that, they figure out why the person can’t afford food and address the root cause.”
This collaboration ensures patients receive both rapid support and sustainable solutions.
Social work support remains limited across oncology, even though its positive impact on outcomes is well documented. Thyme Care’s integrated model addresses the barriers that drive avoidable utilization and poor patient experiences — creating value across the oncology ecosystem.
For payers, the impact is both clinical and financial. When social and behavioral barriers are addressed early, patients are more likely to stay engaged in care, complete treatment, and avoid preventable complications; reducing emergency visits, hospitalizations, and misaligned care.
Hospitals and health systems benefit through stronger care coordination, especially during transitions like discharge. Proactively addressing social needs helps reduce readmissions and eases the burden on clinical teams managing complex non-clinical challenges.
For independent oncology practices, the value is immediate. Social workers and care partners extend care team capacity, helping patients overcome barriers that lead to missed appointments or delays, allowing clinicians to stay focused on treatment while patients remain supported.
“Anytime you address and alleviate barriers to care, people actually engage with the care they’re supposed to receive,” Broussard says. “They show up for infusions, they stay connected, and they plan ahead.”
Thyme Care’s Integrated Social Support Team will continue expanding in 2026.
By integrating behavioral health, social work, and care coordination, Thyme Care is helping establish a new model for whole-person cancer care: one that recognizes the social and emotional realities shaping cancer outcomes.
Learn more about how Thyme Care partners with payers and providers to deliver oncology-specific care models that improve outcomes and lower costs: https://www.thymecare.com/contact