Throughout treatment, recovery, and beyond, people living with head and neck cancer (HNC) and thyroid cancer (TC) encounter a variety of unique challenges. When undergoing treatment as well as afterwards, their ability to eat may be affected, causing physical and emotional pain and discomfort. The impact of HNC and TC on one’s ability to eat can impact the entire household and can feel exponentially burdensome during the holidays, when food and family meals are a key focus.
To help those living with HNC and TC, and those who are caring for them, we brought together a group of HNC and TC survivors and their caregivers to share their journeys – as well as recipes that helped them navigate challenges during treatment and recovery. Their stories and personal recipes were featured in a five-part episodic mini-series on YouTube.
To reach the HNC and TC communities and drive viewers to the series on YouTube, short teaser videos and social posts were published across social platforms by the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance (HNCA); Support for People with Oral and Head and Neck Cancer (SPOHNC); the Thyroid, Head and Neck Cancer (THANC) Foundation; CancerCare; ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association; and Eisai Inc. leading up to and throughout the holidays.
By sharing stories and recipes, the goal of this series is for those living with HNC and TC to feel they are not alone and have access to resources as they navigate their own treatment and recovery journeys, especially during the holidays.
Through speaking with HNC and TC survivors and partnering with advocacy groups, we’ve learned that these individuals often experienced difficulty at mealtime and social gatherings focused on food—both during treatment and recovery. In order to bolster a sense of community, we decided to focus on the personal and lived experiences of other survivors. In collaboration with our Made of More advocacy partners, we were able to connect with pairs of survivors and their spouses and caregivers who were open to sharing stories of facing challenges at mealtime and the recipes they relied on through their treatment and recovery journeys.
Three pairs from the HNC and TC communities came together to share their unique stories as well as challenges they experienced with eating, cooking, and managing social situations centered around food, especially during the holidays. Each pair also shared a recipe that helped them ensure they were consuming nutrients their health care providers recommended, despite difficulties eating during their HNC and TC journeys.
We filmed their individual stories, recipe demonstrations, and group discussions over a meal consisting of the recipes they shared. The footage captured was built out into a five-part episodic mini-series for the Made of More YouTube channel. These episodes were published on a rolling basis on YouTube leading up to and throughout the holiday season.
To help drive viewers to the full series on YouTube, short teaser videos and social posts were published across social platforms by the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance (HNCA); Support for People with Oral and Head and Neck Cancer (SPOHNC); the Thyroid, Head and Neck Cancer (THANC) Foundation; CancerCare; ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association; and Eisai Inc. Promoting new episodes across multiple social platforms and through our partners’ channels was essential to ensure that we were reaching members of the HNC and TC communities. Social posts employed multiple hashtags, such as #MoreThanHNC and #TruthAboutTC, to help grow the campaign while driving viewers to the full-length episodes on YouTube.
The final videos produced for the Made of More: Personal Experiences at Mealtime YouTube mini-series are a testament to the fortitude and strength of HNC and TC survivors to overcome the challenges surrounding mealtime that they face several times a day, as well as continuing to inspire members of the HNC and TC communities. These videos serve as a resource for those living with HNC and TC—hearing their peers share stories, tips, and recipes can help them face the difficulties of eating with a new outlook.
After the launch of the video series in October 2024 and its promotion across our partners’ social channels, it was clear that the HNC and TC communities valued these conversations and insights surrounding mealtime, resulting in:
