However, these covenants would at least permit families and physicians to have discussions pretesting about its implications and the potential for family members to be tested for a genetic predisposition. In sum, health professionals still have a significant role to play in facilitating intrafamilial communication of potential genetic risk for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, whether or not they otherwise have the legal or ethical obligation to directly inform patients’ families of this information. For one, they can inform patients before and after testing about the potential
impact the results could have on family (Cheung et al. 2010) and the potential that family members might not want to know (an exercise Akt inhibitor of the right not to know). They can also offer to aid patients with their communication (Nycum et see more al. 2009b; Lacroix et al. 2008), such as being selleck kinase inhibitor present when the patient discloses to answer any questions the family member(s) might have. This could be especially helpful to assist patients and their families understand what the results really mean to the family, rather than relying on preconceptions held by the family which might
be inaccurate (Lacroix et al. 2008). By providing information and guidance, health professionals might also be persuasive in encouraging patients to inform extended family members, rather than just their immediate families, as patients do not always have the urge to do so (Werner-Lin 2007). While frontline delivery health care professionals have an essential role to play in leading such CYTH4 discussions, at present, they may be ill equipped to take
on such a role (McGivern et al. 2004). For example, nearly half of all nurses and one third of physicians practicing in Canada reported in 2005 having no formal training in genetics (Bottorff et al. 2005). The ability of health care professionals to communicate risk and patients’ ability to understand risk are factors that have been shown to influence intrafamilial communication of breast cancer risk among families (Plon et al. 2011). It can be challenging for health care professionals to communicate risk information, and misunderstandings about genetic risk for breast cancer have been reported (Cheung et al. 2010) and can be amplified when sharing the information with relatives (Ahmed et al. 2012). Factors such as age, gender, culture, and education have been shown to influence perception and ability to comprehend risk (Vos et al. 2011). Given the rapidly evolving nature of genetic risk information and the complexity of the subject, it is clear that many health care professionals will require additional training and support in order to facilitate discussions with their patients about genetic risk and genetic testing (Sussner et al. 2011). Points to consider: role of health professionals 1.