No abstract

International audienceThe use of genetics and genomics within a wide range of health care settings requires health professionals to develop expertise in order to practise appropriately. There is a need for a common minimum standard of competence in genetics for health professionals in Europe but due to differences in professional education and regulation between European countries, setting curricula may not be practical. Core competences are used as a basis for health professional education in many fields and settings. An Expert Group working under the auspices of the EuroGentest project and European Society of Human Genetics Education Committee agreed that a pragmatic solution to the need to establish common standards for education and practice in genetic healthcare was to agree a set of core competences that could apply across Europe. These were agreed through an exhaustive process of consultation with relevant health professionals and patient groups. Sets of competences for practitioners working in primary, secondary and tertiary care have been agreed and were approved by the European Society of Human Genetics. The competences provide an appropriate framework for genetics education of health professionals across national boundaries and the suggested learning outcomes are available to guide development of curricula that are appropriate to the national context, educational system and healthcare setting of the professional involved. Collaboration between individuals from many European countries and professions has resulted in an adaptable framework for both pre-registration and continuing professional education. This competence framework has the potential to improve the quality of genetic healthcare for patients globally

While the use of games can be viewed as a viable teaching strategy, care should be exercised in the use of specific games that have not been assessed objectively. Further research on the use of gaming is needed to enable educators to gaming techniques appropriately for the benefit of students and, ultimately, patients.

Prenatal fetal sex determination is clinically indicated for women who are at risk of having a child with a serious genetic disorder affecting a particular sex. Ultrasound has been the traditional method used, but early fetal sex determination using non-invasive prenatal diagnosis (NIPD) can now be performed using cell-free fetal DNA in maternal plasma. The study aim was to assess the views and experiences of service users who had used NIPD for fetal sex determination. In this paper, we report on the perceived benefits and disadvantages. A qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews was used. A total of 44 participants (38 women and 6 partners of participating women) were recruited. Participants' views and experiences of NIPD were overwhelmingly positive. Concerning benefits over traditional methods, three themes emerged: (1) technical aspects of technology; (2) timing; and (3) enhanced decision-making. Practical advantages of NIPD included avoiding miscarriage, and there were a number of psychological advantages associated with timing such as perceived control, early re-engagement, normalization of pregnancy and peace of mind. Participants also valued NIPD as it enabled a stepwise approach to decisionmaking. A number of disadvantages were discussed including concerns about social sexing and increased bonding at a time in pregnancy when miscarriage risk is high. However, participants felt these were fairly minor in comparison with the advantages of NIPD. Until definitive genetic diagnosis using NIPD is available, NIPD for fetal sex determination is perceived as a good interim measure with a number of notable advantages over traditional methods.

Aim. To evaluate the social networking site Twitter TM as a vehicle for recruitment in online health research and to examine how the Twitter community would share information: the focus of our study was the antenatal experience of mothers of advanced maternal age. Background. One result of growth in worldwide Internet and mobile phone usage is the increased ability to source health information online and to use social media sites including Facebook and Twitter. Although social media have been used in previous health research, there is a lack of literature on the use of Twitter in health research. Design. A cross-sectional survey.Method. We report a novel recruitment method via a social networking site between May and August 2012. Through a Twitter account, we tweeted and requested other Twitter users to retweet our invitation to be involved in the study. Tweets contained a unique URL directing participants to an online survey hosted on the Survey Monkey TM website.Findings. Over 11 weeks, 749 original tweets were posted by the researcher. A total of 529 mothers accessed the survey as a result of 359 researcher tweets and subsequent retweets that were seen by Twitter users. The survey was fully completed by 299 (56Á5%) participants. Conclusion. Twitter is a cost-effective means of recruitment, enabling engagement with potentially difficult-to-reach populations, providing participants with transparency, anonymity and a more accessible method by which to participate in health research.Keywords: health, nurses, online, research, social media, social networking Glossary of key termsApplications (Apps) A piece of specialized software that can be downloaded onto computers and mobile devices.Blogging/Micro-blogging The act of using a Web log (personal journal) to post content online, e.g. text, images and links to other websites. Brief, shortened versions of posts are often referred to as micro-blogs.