title: Spiritual assessment in genetic counseling.
abstract: One hundred and twenty seven full members of the National Society of Genetic Counselors participated in this study exploring current spiritual assessment practices of genetic counselors and reactions to a spiritual assessment tool. While 60% of genetic counselors reported they had performed a spiritual assessment within the past year, fewer than 8.7% of these counselors assessed spirituality in more than half of their sessions. Counselors reporting high perceived relevance of spiritual assessment performed an assessment more frequently than those reporting a low perceived relevance. Barriers to spiritual assessment included lack of time, insufficient skills, and uncertainty regarding the role of spiritual assessment within genetic counseling. Almost two-thirds of counselors expressed that having a spiritual assessment tool would increase their ability to elicit relevant information. These data suggest a need for increased training regarding the methods for and relevance of spiritual assessment in genetic counseling. Recommendations for future directions of research are explored.
authors.affiliation: Genetic Counseling Program, College of Allied Health Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA. lreis@chw.org
authors.forename: Linda M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Reis
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Baumiller
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Scrivener
authors.forename: Geoffrey
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yager
authors.forename: Nancy Steinberg
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Warren
mesh_terms: D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005817:Genetic Counseling; D006801:Humans; D029181:Spirituality; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires