Genetic Counseling Department, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA.
Division of Cancer Predisposition, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.
J Genet Couns. 2020 Dec;29(6):1245-1258. doi: 10.1002/jgc4.1289. Epub 2020 May 30.
Patients receiving clinical genetics services often navigate emotionally difficult situations and may utilize their faith as a source of support, an aid in decision-making, or a core coping strategy. Although patients have expressed interest in discussing their religious or spiritual (R/S) beliefs with their genetic counselor (GC), GCs may avoid such conversations because they feel they do not have the necessary skills to discuss R/S beliefs (Reis, Baumiller, Scrivener, Yager, & Warren, 2007). This qualitative study explored how GC programs in North America currently prepare their students to discuss R/S matters with their patients. The aims of this study were to identify (1) the R/S topics genetic counseling programs currently cover in the curriculum, (2) how genetic counseling programs evaluate their students within the R/S topics and activities that are included in the curriculum, and (3) the value or importance placed on R/S training by genetic counseling program directors. Leaders of 12 (36%) of the 33 eligible GC programs at the time of the study participated in a semi-structured phone interview. Their responses were coded using open and axial coding techniques and analyzed using grounded theory. Results revealed that R/S issues are often covered during the psychosocial portions of the curriculum through writing assignments, in class exercises, and role plays. Almost all participating programs include information on pastoral care services, but have little to no training about specific R/S beliefs or the use of spiritual surveys. While participating program directors emphasized that it is critical for students to be prepared to hold conversations about patients' R/S beliefs, the strategies used to prepare students are inconsistent and often not evaluated. We provide suggestions for enriching the R/S training in genetic counseling graduate programs in order to prepare students to facilitate discussions around patients' religion and/or spirituality in genetic counseling sessions.
接受临床遗传学服务的患者经常会面临情绪困难的情况，他们可能会将信仰作为支持、决策辅助或核心应对策略的来源。尽管患者表示有兴趣与遗传咨询师讨论他们的宗教或精神信仰（R/S），但遗传咨询师可能会避免此类对话，因为他们觉得自己没有必要的技能来讨论 R/S 信仰（Reis 等人，2007 年）。本定性研究探讨了北美地区的遗传咨询师培训计划目前如何培训学生与患者讨论 R/S 问题。本研究的目的是确定：（1）遗传咨询课程目前涵盖的 R/S 主题；（2）遗传咨询课程中如何评估学生在包括课程中的 R/S 主题和活动方面的表现；（3）遗传咨询项目主任对 R/S 培训的重视程度。在研究时，12 个（36%）合格遗传咨询师培训计划的负责人参与了半结构式电话访谈。他们的回答使用开放和轴向编码技术进行编码，并使用扎根理论进行分析。结果表明，R/S 问题通常在课程的心理社会部分通过写作作业、课堂练习和角色扮演来涵盖。几乎所有参与的计划都包括关于牧师咨询服务的信息，但几乎没有关于特定 R/S 信仰或精神调查使用的培训。尽管参与的项目主任强调，学生必须做好准备，以便能够就患者的 R/S 信仰进行对话，但用于培训学生的策略不一致，而且通常未进行评估。我们为遗传咨询研究生课程中的 R/S 培训提供了一些建议，以帮助学生在遗传咨询中为患者的宗教和/或精神信仰的讨论做好准备。
