title: Effectiveness of pre-counseling genetic education workshops at a large urban community health center serving low-income Chinese American women.
abstract: Chinese American pregnant women and women of childbearing age face economic, cultural and linguistic barriers in accessing mainstream health care services. The Charles B. Wang Community Health Center developed a culturally and linguistically competent genetic education workshop for high-risk Chinese American prenatal patients. Patients referred for genetic counseling for thalassemia, abnormal triple screen results, and/or advanced maternal age were recruited to participate in the workshop. The workshop provided basic "genetic 101" education, focusing on topics that were directly relevant to the patients' reasons for referral. The effectiveness of the workshop was measured using a quasi-experimental design with pre-post surveys administered to intervention and control group participants. The evaluation also included a genetic counselor assessment and a pilot study of genetic counseling appointment length. Overall, workshop participants showed significant increases in knowledge, positive attitude and self-efficacy regarding genetic services as compared to their control group counterparts. The pilot appointment length study data revealed that the workshop reduced the length of the genetic counseling appointment time by 40%. These positive findings suggest that it would be worthwhile to replicate the genetic education workshop at other health agencies serving Chinese-speaking populations and that further evaluation research should be conducted.
authors.affiliation: Charles B Wang Community Health Center, New York, NY 10013, USA. ssim@cbwchc.org
authors.forename: Shao-Chee
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Sim
authors.forename: Xiaojie Diana
authors.initials: XD
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Laureen D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Hom
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sze
mesh_terms: D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D003151:Community Health Centers / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D005817:Genetic Counseling; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011203:Poverty; D014481:United States; D014505:Urban Population