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Talking about Risk, UncertaintieS of Testing IN Genetics (TRUSTING): development and evaluation of an educational programme for healthcare professionals about BRCA1 & BRCA2 testing

Talking about Risk, UncertaintieS of Testing IN Genetics (TRUSTING): development and evaluation of an educational programme for healthcare professionals about BRCA1 & BRCA2 testing
Talking about Risk, UncertaintieS of Testing IN Genetics (TRUSTING): development and evaluation of an educational programme for healthcare professionals about BRCA1 & BRCA2 testing

Background: Mainstreaming of germline testing demands that all healthcare professionals have good communication skills, but few have genetic testing and counselling experience. We developed and evaluated educational workshops—Talking about Risk & UncertaintieS of Testing IN Genetics (TRUSTING). Contents included: presentations and exercises, an interview with a geneticist about BRCA testing, screening and prevention implications, filmed interactions between surgeons, a genetic counsellor and geneticists with a fictitious family (proband had a BRCA2 pathogenic variant with triple-negative breast cancer, her older sister—BRCA2 heterozygous, and cousin—negative for BRCA2 variant). Methods: Twenty-one surgeons, 5 oncologists, 18 nurses and 9 genetic counsellors participated. Knowledge (18 item MCQ), communication skills (responses to 6 questions from proband and relatives) and self-confidence (discussing 9 genetic testing issues) were assessed pre- and post workshop. Results: Knowledge scores improved significantly post workshop (mean change = 7.06; 95% confidence interval (CI) 6.37–7.74; P < 0.001), as did communication (mean change = 5.38; 95% CI 4.37–6.38; P < 0.001) and self-confidence (P < 0.001). Discussion: Healthcare professionals’ knowledge and self-confidence when discussing the risks and uncertainties in genetics are often poor. TRUSTING workshops significantly enhanced attendees’ navigation of communication difficulties encountered and will be rolled out more widely.

0007-0920
1116-1122
Fallowfield, Lesley
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Solis-Trapala, Ivonne
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Starkings, Rachel
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May, Shirley
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Matthews, Lucy
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Eccles, Diana
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Evans, D. Gareth
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Turnbull, Clare
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Crawford, Gillian
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Jenkins, Valerie
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Fallowfield, Lesley
9e05a4b7-2bbd-4145-8339-ef8a0897f6cf
Solis-Trapala, Ivonne
d8929dea-8a94-401e-ab9b-86696c01bb1e
Starkings, Rachel
2c8588c5-3dbe-4b0c-845f-37f5d0f77a4a
May, Shirley
fd5355da-c875-4a86-b5fa-15913fbf8d70
Matthews, Lucy
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Eccles, Diana
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Evans, D. Gareth
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Turnbull, Clare
63408861-754b-4f55-a010-29d1bea914e2
Crawford, Gillian
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Jenkins, Valerie
586702c5-b55f-4d46-bd51-265a5e5d1e62

Fallowfield, Lesley, Solis-Trapala, Ivonne, Starkings, Rachel, May, Shirley, Matthews, Lucy, Eccles, Diana, Evans, D. Gareth, Turnbull, Clare, Crawford, Gillian and Jenkins, Valerie (2022) Talking about Risk, UncertaintieS of Testing IN Genetics (TRUSTING): development and evaluation of an educational programme for healthcare professionals about BRCA1 & BRCA2 testing. British Journal of Cancer, 127 (6), 1116-1122. (doi:10.1038/s41416-022-01871-x).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Background: Mainstreaming of germline testing demands that all healthcare professionals have good communication skills, but few have genetic testing and counselling experience. We developed and evaluated educational workshops—Talking about Risk & UncertaintieS of Testing IN Genetics (TRUSTING). Contents included: presentations and exercises, an interview with a geneticist about BRCA testing, screening and prevention implications, filmed interactions between surgeons, a genetic counsellor and geneticists with a fictitious family (proband had a BRCA2 pathogenic variant with triple-negative breast cancer, her older sister—BRCA2 heterozygous, and cousin—negative for BRCA2 variant). Methods: Twenty-one surgeons, 5 oncologists, 18 nurses and 9 genetic counsellors participated. Knowledge (18 item MCQ), communication skills (responses to 6 questions from proband and relatives) and self-confidence (discussing 9 genetic testing issues) were assessed pre- and post workshop. Results: Knowledge scores improved significantly post workshop (mean change = 7.06; 95% confidence interval (CI) 6.37–7.74; P < 0.001), as did communication (mean change = 5.38; 95% CI 4.37–6.38; P < 0.001) and self-confidence (P < 0.001). Discussion: Healthcare professionals’ knowledge and self-confidence when discussing the risks and uncertainties in genetics are often poor. TRUSTING workshops significantly enhanced attendees’ navigation of communication difficulties encountered and will be rolled out more widely.

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Accepted/In Press date: 26 May 2022
Published date: 5 October 2022
Additional Information: Funding Information: LJF is grateful to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation for grant support for the TRUSTING programme. Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 467293
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/467293
ISSN: 0007-0920
PURE UUID: 3f5ce119-0df6-462a-9460-1cf65bd3c1e1
ORCID for Diana Eccles: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9935-3169

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Date deposited: 05 Jul 2022 16:49
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 02:36

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Contributors

Author: Lesley Fallowfield
Author: Ivonne Solis-Trapala
Author: Rachel Starkings
Author: Shirley May
Author: Lucy Matthews
Author: Diana Eccles ORCID iD
Author: D. Gareth Evans
Author: Clare Turnbull
Author: Valerie Jenkins

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