Growing Pains of a New Health Care Field: Genetic Counselling in Australia and the United States

Kenen, Regina H.

doi:10.1002/j.1839-4655.1986.tb00822.x

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…In the early years of the twentieth century in the United States, the first 'genetic counselling' centre at the Eugenics Record Office at Cold Spring Harbor (founded in 1910) proffered highly directive advice as to whether to marry or not to marry or reproduce. In line with the eugenic emphasis of the period, counsellors offered premarital, preconception, and postconception hereditary advice with a view to the future of the gene pool, as well as the health of hture offspring of their clients (Kenen, 1986: p. 174; see also Walker, 1998: pp. 2-3).…”

Section: The Poetics and Politics Of Nondirectivenessmentioning

confidence: 98%

Counselling the genetically ‘at risk’: The poetics and politics of ‘non-directiveness’

Petersen

1999

Health, Risk & Society

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According to the professional literature, genetic counselling should be value-neutral and 'non-directive'. Counsellors should impart gsnetic risk information without offering direct adviie, enabling clients to reach informed, voluntary decisions. Although a growing number of genetic counsellors have questioned the desirability of adopting a non-directive stance and recognise the dtficulty, if not impossibility, of realising this ideal in practice, non-directiveness continues to be promoted by the genetic counselling profession as a defining feature of genetic counselling. This am'cle critically examines the use of the concept of non-directiveness in genetic counselling, making reference to a range of recent descnptions and critical appraisals of the genetic coiinselling process. It explores the context for the emergence of the ideal of non-directiveness and how this ideal is sustained through counsellors' selfdescriptions of their profession and the routines of counselling practice. Finally, the article stresses the importance of critically assessing the aims and regular0 y implications of genetic counselling in a context of proliferating new 'at risk' populations.

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Section: The Poetics and Politics Of Nondirectivenessmentioning

confidence: 98%

Counselling the genetically ‘at risk’: The poetics and politics of ‘non-directiveness’

Petersen

1999

Health, Risk & Society

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“…Given that country‐specific factors can influence genetic counseling practice (Abacan et al, 2019; Kenen, 1986), we focused on recruit of Australian‐based participants, to understand the experiences of working in Australia. Importantly, we also wanted to understand the impact of the Australian healthcare system and governing bodies on the practice of Australian‐based GCs, as this could potentially influence the practice of the participants (Battista et al, 2012; Ormond et al, 2018).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“It's fundamental to the work that we do”: Genetic counselors' perceptions of their role in clients' mental well‐being

Harris

Best

Silva

et al. 2023

Journal of Genetic Counseling

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The role of a genetic counselor is to assist individuals and their families to comprehend and adapt to genetic information. However, a genetic counselor's role in clients' mental well‐being is unclear. Mental well‐being is an important component of overall health and it can be affected during the adaptation to genetic information. It is, therefore, essential to consider how mental well‐being is viewed in genetic counseling practice. Our research aimed to investigate genetic counselors' perceptions of their role in clients' mental well‐being. Our objectives were to (1) understand what genetic counselors perceived their role to be in clients' mental well‐being and (2) investigate what factors influence genetic counselors' perceptions of practice. We recruited participants via advertisements in the Human Genetics Society of Australasia and the Australasian Society of Genetic Counselors newsletters, and through the Genetic Support Network of Victoria social media. We completed semi‐structured in‐depth interviews with 12 Australian genetic counselors and analyzed the interviews using inductive thematic analysis. We found that genetic counselors viewed clients' mental well‐being as an important and crucial part of their practice. Three key themes were identified, first, all the participants' views of clients' mental well‐being were shaped by personal and professional beliefs. Second, all participants noted that there were factors external to them, such as workplace and professional guidelines, which shaped their role in clients' mental well‐being. Third, all those interviewed noted the boundaries of their professional role in clients' mental well‐being. From these three themes, we determined that genetic counselors see clients' mental well‐being as an integral part of their practice. Our findings add to the extant literature and can shape future practice in this field. Furthermore, we identified how future research priorities could further our knowledge in this area.

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“…The emergent phase in Australasia has been considerably shorter compared to that in the USA (Kenen 1986), but since the early consolidation phase, there has been only modest expansion in genetic counseling services over the last decade as publically funded systems struggle to cope with the increased number and expense of genetic tests combined with increasing clinical demand.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are Australasian Genetic Counselors Interested in Private Practice at the Primary Care Level of Health Service?

Sane

Humphreys

Peterson

2015

Journal of Genetic Counseling

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This study explored the perceived interest in development of private genetic counseling services in collaboration with primary care physicians in the Australasian setting by online survey of members of the Australasian Society of Genetic Counselors. Four hypothetical private practice models of professional collaboration between genetic counselors and primary care physicians or clinical geneticists were proposed to gauge interest and enthusiasm of ASGC members for this type of professional development. Perceived barriers and facilitators were also evaluated. 78 completed responses were included for analysis. The majority of participants (84.6 %) showed a positive degree of interest and enthusiasm towards potential for clinical work in private practice. All proposed practice models yielded a positive degree of interest from participants. Model 4 (the only model of collaboration with a clinical geneticist rather than primary care physician) was the clearly preferred option (mean = 4.26/5), followed by Model 2 (collaboration with a single primary care practice) (mean = 4.09/5), Model 3 (collaboration with multiple primary care clinics, multidisciplinary clinic or specialty clinic) (mean = 3.77/5) and finally, Model 1 (mean = 3.61/5), which was the most independent model of practice. When participants ranked the options in the order of preference, Model 4 remained the most popular first preference (44.6 %), followed by model 2 (21.6 %), model 3 (18.9 %) and model 1 was again least popular (10.8 %). There was no significant statistical correlation between demographic characteristics (age bracket, years of work experience, current level of work autonomy) and participants' preference for private practice models. Support from clinical genetics colleagues and the professional society was highly rated as a facilitator and, conversely, lack of such support as a significant barrier.

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Growing Pains of a New Health Care Field: Genetic Counselling in Australia and the United States

Cited by 6 publications

References 12 publications

Counselling the genetically ‘at risk’: The poetics and politics of ‘non-directiveness’

Counselling the genetically ‘at risk’: The poetics and politics of ‘non-directiveness’

“It's fundamental to the work that we do”: Genetic counselors' perceptions of their role in clients' mental well‐being

Are Australasian Genetic Counselors Interested in Private Practice at the Primary Care Level of Health Service?

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