Preparing genetic counselors to serve Native American communities

As a medical specialty, genetic counseling (GC) espouses cultural sensitivity, a patient‐centered approach, and an eye for the individual, familial, and community‐wide implications of genetics and genomics in medicine. Within the past decades, the field of GC has recognized and attempted to address...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of genetic counseling Vol. 30; no. 5; pp. 1388 - 1398
Main Authors:	Freeman, Abigail A., Arbuckle, Jacquelynn, Petty, Elizabeth M.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-10-2021
Subjects:	American Indians Community Counselors cultural competence Cultural sensitivity Curricula disparities Enrollments Genetic counseling Genomics Health disparities Minority & ethnic groups Multiculturalism & pluralism Native American Native North Americans Partnerships Patient-centered care Patients program evaluation Recruitment Training underrepresented populations North America disparities underrepresented populations cultural competence program evaluation Native American
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	As a medical specialty, genetic counseling (GC) espouses cultural sensitivity, a patient‐centered approach, and an eye for the individual, familial, and community‐wide implications of genetics and genomics in medicine. Within the past decades, the field of GC has recognized and attempted to address a need for the greater diversity of providers and practice settings that will help to address health inequities across underrepresented communities (Channaoui et al., 2020). Accreditation for GC training programs mandates equipping students with multicultural sensitivity and knowledge on health disparities. Currently however, there are limited published data about how GC programs are accomplishing these aims for Native American individuals and communities. Furthermore, there are limited published data on the unique needs and perspectives of Native Americans who may seek GC services. This disconnect may pose barriers for genetic counselors who aim to provide respectful and relevant care to Native American patients. Education of GC students is one important way to set the tone for a lifetime of practice and to inspire awareness and action toward alleviating disparities. Thus, we surveyed GC training programs in North America to investigate how they are working to (a) address disparities in Native American professional representation and student enrollment, (b) deliver culturally relevant curricula and clinical opportunities that serve the needs of Native Americans, and (c) positively engage Native American communities in North America. We found that reported recruitment efforts, curricula content, clinical opportunities, and community engagement efforts to address the needs of Native American are limited across GC training programs surveyed. By bringing awareness to current methods, success factors, and barriers in this space, we hope to open the door for meaningful partnerships between leaders of Native American communities and GC training programs in the pursuit of greater equity.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	1059-7700 1573-3599
DOI:	10.1002/jgc4.1405