Social workers are integral members of oncology care teams, addressing the psychosocial, emotional, and practical challenges faced by individuals with cancer and their families. As the largest group of psycho-oncology providers in the United States, we bring unique expertise, providing adjustment to illness counseling (and psychotherapy in some settings) while addressing social determinants of health and health equity across the care continuum. Despite this, we are not always afforded adequate training, institutional support, or inclusion in research efforts, leading us (and interdisciplinary team members) to question how we can contribute meaningfully to oncology scholarship. Barriers to research engagement occur at multiple levels, including individual factors such as limited research confidence or skills, organizational constraints such as high workloads, and policy limitations, including reimbursement structures and insufficient recognition of research activities. The absence of protected research time further compounds these challenges in the context of high clinical demands.
Despite these barriers, research engagement is critical to clinical social work practice in oncology, which is grounded in evidence-informed interventions. Through sustained patient contact, we are often the clinicians most attuned to patients’ lived experiences, including the inequities and barriers experienced across the healthcare system and throughout the cancer trajectory. When these perspectives are absent from research, psychosocial needs risk being underrepresented or oversimplified. By contributing data on psychosocial outcomes and delivery of patient-centered care, we strengthen the foundation of psycho-oncology and ensure that research reflects real-world clinical practice.
So, the question arises: How do social workers without protected research time participate in research? While many of us remain employed in purely clinical roles, meaningful engagement in research can be feasible and manageable.
Practice-Based Inquiry
For oncology social workers in roles without protected research time, one effective strategy is embedding research within routine clinical practice. Practice-based inquiry enables the translation of everyday clinical observations into researchable questions. By documenting outcomes of psychosocial interventions, tracking referral patterns or standardized screening tool results, or evaluating evidence-based practices, social workers can generate meaningful data without adding substantially to their workload. This integration reduces burden while supporting engagement in research.
Collaboration
Collaboration is another pathway for research engagement. Oncology social workers are well-positioned to participate as clinical partners in multidisciplinary or academic research teams. Relationships with research-focused colleagues can provide mentorship, shared resources, and opportunities for co-authorship, reducing the pressure on individual clinicians to conduct a study alone from start to finish. Social workers may serve as associate investigators or consultants on studies related to distress screening workflows, care coordination interventions, or assessments of health-related social needs. The implementation and delivery of psychosocial interventions are another area in which clinical social workers can contribute to research. When integrated into an existing clinical workflow, these collaborative roles often require minimal additional time while enhancing the clinical relevance of the research. Additionally, as clinical trials in pediatric, adolescent, and young adult settings increasingly integrate assessments of social determinants of health, social workers play a critical role in guiding the selection of validated measures and administering surveys. Their clinical perspective is indispensable to research examining psychosocial assessments and interventions, psychosocial screening practices, and the influence of social determinants of health on clinical outcomes.
Multi-site research
Multi-institutional studies provide established infrastructure, robust data management systems, and statistical support, significantly reducing the burden on individual clinicians. Social workers may contribute by assisting with patient recruitment and retention, contributing to protocol development, or collecting patient-reported outcomes as part of routine psychosocial assessments. These roles allow social workers to engage in high-impact research while maintaining clinical responsibilities.
However, even with these avenues, increased organizational advocacy is a necessary, essential component of sustainable engagement in research. Social workers can advocate for recognition of research-related activities in evaluations, request access to mentorship, or support the development of small-scale pilot funding or quality improvement (QI) initiatives. Research conducted by social workers not only enhances relevance, feasibility, and implementation potential but can also increase professional visibility and strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration.
While protected research time remains ideal, there are pathways to meaningfully engage in research. Practice-based inquiry, collaboration, and participation in multi-site studies acknowledge the realities of clinical practice while ensuring that our essential psychosocial perspectives remain centered in oncology research and care.
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