Premium
A Survey of Ethical and Professional Challenges Experienced by Spanish Health‐Care Professionals that Provide Genetic Counseling Services
Author(s) -
AbadPerotín Reyes,
AsúnsoloDel Barco Ángel,
SilvaMato Agustín
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of genetic counseling
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.867
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1573-3599
pISSN - 1059-7700
DOI - 10.1007/s10897-011-9382-9
Subject(s) - genetic counseling , health professionals , public health , family medicine , medicine , genetic testing , ethical code , nursing , health care , informed consent , ethical issues , medical education , psychology , alternative medicine , engineering ethics , public relations , pathology , political science , genetics , biology , engineering , law
Genetic testing is increasingly applied for diagnosis and clinical treatment. In some countries, genetic counseling services are provided by professionals with specific training in this discipline, whereas other countries have no teaching programs and counseling is offered by physicians, nurses, pharmacists or biochemists. This counseling raises more and more ethical dilemmas for health professionals at their clinics. The purpose of this study was to analyze the characteristics of Spanish professionals devoted to providing genetic counseling services and to investigate the frequency of the ethical dilemmas they face. Results from 72 survey respondents revealed this counseling is provided by an almost even number of male and female professionals, mostly physicians with many years of professional experience. The overall frequency of the ethical dilemmas encountered was not high. The most frequent dilemmas corresponded to emotional responses by patients, informed consent, uncertainty about test results, and limitations on health‐care resources. The frequency of dilemmas involving discrimination and provider directiveness was very low. Additional findings, practice implications, and research recommendations are presented.