“I pretty much followed the law, and there weren't any decisions to make”: A qualitative study of self‐advocacy experiences of men with cancer

Current conceptualizations of patient self‐advocacy focus on women with cancer, leaving knowledge of male self‐advocacy deficient. The purpose of this study is to describe the key components of self‐advocacy among men with cancer. Adult (≥18 years old) men with a history of invasive cancer were recruited from cancer clinics and registries. Trained researchers led individual semi‐structured interviews regarding participants' challenges, how they overcame those challenges, and barriers and facilitators to their self‐advocacy. All interviews were analyzed using descriptive content analysis methods and synthesized into major themes. These themes were refined after receiving feedback from key stakeholders. Participants (N = 28) reported three major self‐advocacy themes: (i) managing through information and planning; (ii) finding the best team and falling in line; and (iii) strategic social connections. These themes are richly described with representative quotations for each theme and subtheme. Based on these findings, existing models of patient self‐advocacy should be adjusted to encompass how men self‐advocate. Clinicians should consider how gender may impact how and why patients with cancer self‐advocate so that they can best support their patients in achieving patient‐centered care.