A relational approach to genetic counseling for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer
Forbes Shepherd, Rowan, Browne, Tamara Kayali and Warwick, Linda 2017, A relational approach to genetic counseling for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, Journal of genetic counseling, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 283-299, doi: 10.1007/s10897-016-0022-2.
Attached Files
Name
Description
MIMEType
Size
Downloads
Title
A relational approach to genetic counseling for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer
Ethical issues arise for genetic counselors when aclient fails to disclose a genetic diagnosis of hereditary diseaseto family: they must consider the rights of the individual clientto privacy and confidentiality as well as the rights of thefamily to know their genetic risk. Although considerable workhas addressed issues of non-disclosure from the client’sperspective, there is a lack of qualitative research into howgenetic counselors address this issue in practice. In this study,a qualitative approach was taken to investigate whethergenetic counselors in Australia use a relational approach toencourage the disclosure of genetic information from hereditarybreast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) clients among familymembers; and if so, how they use it. Semi-structured qualitativeinterviews were conducted with 16 genetic counselorsfrom selected states across Australia. Data collection andanalysis were guided by a basic iterative approach incorporatinga hybrid methodology to thematic analysis. The findingsprovide indicative evidence of genetic counselors employing arelational approach in three escalating stages—covert, overtand authoritative—to encourage the disclosure of geneticinformation. The findings lend credence to the notion thatgenetic counselors envision a form of relational autonomyfor their clients in the context of sharing genetic information,and they depart from individualistic conceptions of care/solely client-centered counseling when addressing the needsof other family members to know their genetic status.
Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved.
Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that permission has been obtained for items included in DRO.
If you believe that your rights have been infringed by this repository, please contact drosupport@deakin.edu.au.
Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that permission has been obtained for items included in DRO. If you believe that your rights have been infringed by this repository, please contact drosupport@deakin.edu.au.