Background: About 5-10 per cent of all patients diagnosed with cancer carry a genetic susceptibility to develop such a disease. Oncology nurses are seeing more and more patients that have a genetic predisposition who are in need of genetic counselling. From the patient’s perspective it is beneficial that oncology nurses have a genetic experience in order to be able to give each patient individual counselling about his or her life situation. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to highlight - from the perspective of the genetic counsellor - which factors make patients seek genetic counselling. It also describes how patients experience this counseling. Method: A qualitative interview study with an inductive hypothesis was conducted. The questions for the interview were semi-structured and eight genetic counselors participated. The professional experience of the participants varied from 1 to 20 years. The material was analysed with the qualitative content analysis by Lundman & Graneheims (2012) as well as Kvale (2014). Result: The results of the analysis are presented in three categories: the life situation of the patient, the security as well as knowledge. Genetic counsellors believe that the life situation of the patient influences him or her to choose genetic counselling. Also, knowledge, in the form of the competence shown by the staff encountered by the patient, has influenced this decision. Knowledge of the importance of genes, which are propagated by social media, as well as an increased awareness of the public in these matters, is also seen as contributing factors. The patients appear to be resolute in their decisions, better informed and thereby also more secure, more content and less worried as a consequence of genetic counselling. Conclusion: The results of the study show the need for an increased knowledge of genetics in order to meet the future needs of patients. This, in particular, involves oncology, nurses who are expected to know which risk factors are important and what tests are available, as well as being able to judge when the patient is in need of genetic counselling. The way the patient deals with his or her life situation then makes a starting point for a more constructive dialogue between the patient and the genetic counsellor that also enables the counselor to see the patient as a whole.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-307918 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Sennevall, Orania, Hahne, Ilse |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för folkhälso- och vårdvetenskap, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för folkhälso- och vårdvetenskap |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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