Design and Feasibility of an Intervention to Support Cancer Genetic Counselees in Informing their At-Risk Relatives.
Cancer genetic counselees receive individualized information regarding heightened risks and medical recommendations which is also relevant for their at-risk relatives. Unfortunately, counselees often insufficiently inform these relatives. We designed an intervention aimed at improving counselees' knowledge regarding which at-risk relatives to inform and what information to disclose, their motivation to disclose, and their self-efficacy. The intervention, offered by telephone by trained psychosocial workers, is based on the principles of Motivational Interviewing. Phase 1 of the intervention covers agenda setting, exploration, and evaluation, and phase 2 includes information provision, enhancing motivation and self-efficacy, and brainstorming for solutions to disseminate information within the family. Fidelity and acceptability of the intervention were assessed using recordings of intervention sessions and by counselee self-report. A total of 144 counselees participated. Psychosocial workers (n = 5) delivered the intervention largely as intended. Counselees highly appreciated the content of the intervention and the psychosocial workers who delivered the intervention. In the sessions, psychosocial workers provided additional and/or corrective information, and brainstorming for solutions was performed in 70 %. These results indicate that this intervention is feasible and warrants testing in clinical practice. For this, a randomized controlled trial is currently in progress to test the intervention's efficacy.
Department of Medical Psychology, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Eveline
E
de Geus
Department of Medical Psychology, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Willem
W
Eijzenga
Cancer Family Clinic, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Fred H
FH
Menko
Department of Clinical Genetics, University Medical Centre Groningen, University Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Rolf H
RH
Sijmons
Department of Medical Psychology, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Hanneke C J M
HC
de Haes
Department of Clinical Genetics, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Cora M
CM
Aalfs
Department of Medical Psychology, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. e.m.smets@amc.uva.nl.
Ellen M A
EM
Smets
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D005817:Genetic Counseling / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology*; D020377:Self Efficacy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
Cancer genetic counseling; Family communication; Motivational interviewing