Department of Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Office of Genomics and Precision Public Health, Office of Science, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Public Health Genomics. 2021;24(1-2):67-74. doi: 10.1159/000512485. Epub 2021 Jan 14.
Despite growing awareness about the potential for genomic information to improve population health, lingering communication challenges remain in describing the role of genomics in public health programs. Identifying and addressing these challenges provide an important opportunity for appropriate communication to ensure the translation of genomic discoveries for public health benefits. In this commentary, we describe 5 common communication challenges encountered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Office of Genomics and Precision Public Health based on over 20 years of experience in the field. These include (1) communicating that using genomics to assess rare diseases can have an impact on public health; (2) providing evidence that genetic factors can add important information to environmental, behavioral, and social determinants of health; (3) communicating that although genetic factors are nonmodifiable, they can increase the impact of public health programs and communication strategies; (4) addressing the concern that genomics is not ready for clinical practice; and (5) communicating that genomics is valuable beyond the domain of health care and can be integrated as part of public health programs. We discuss opportunities for addressing these communication challenges and provide examples of ongoing approaches to communication about the role of genomics in public health to the public, researchers, and practitioners.
尽管人们越来越意识到基因组信息有可能改善人口健康，但在描述基因组学在公共卫生计划中的作用时，仍然存在挥之不去的沟通挑战。识别和解决这些挑战为进行适当的沟通提供了重要机会，以确保将基因组发现转化为公共卫生效益。在这篇评论中，我们描述了疾病预防控制中心基因组学和精准公共卫生办公室在该领域 20 多年的经验中遇到的 5 个常见沟通挑战。这些挑战包括：（1）沟通使用基因组学评估罕见疾病对公共卫生的影响；（2）提供证据表明遗传因素可以为健康的环境、行为和社会决定因素增加重要信息；（3）传达尽管遗传因素不可改变，但它们可以增加公共卫生计划和沟通策略的影响；（4）解决基因组学尚未准备好用于临床实践的担忧；（5）传达基因组学除了在医疗保健领域有价值之外，还可以作为公共卫生计划的一部分进行整合。我们讨论了解决这些沟通挑战的机会，并提供了正在进行的向公众、研究人员和从业者传达基因组学在公共卫生中的作用的沟通方法的例子。
