"It's fundamental to the work that we do": Genetic counselors' perceptions of their role in clients' mental well-being.

Abstract

The role of a genetic counselor is to assist individuals and their families to comprehend and adapt to genetic information. However, a genetic counselor's role in clients' mental well-being is unclear. Mental well-being is an important component of overall health and it can be affected during the adaptation to genetic information. It is, therefore, essential to consider how mental well-being is viewed in genetic counseling practice. Our research aimed to investigate genetic counselors' perceptions of their role in clients' mental well-being. Our objectives were to (1) understand what genetic counselors perceived their role to be in clients' mental well-being and (2) investigate what factors influence genetic counselors' perceptions of practice. We recruited participants via advertisements in the Human Genetics Society of Australasia and the Australasian Society of Genetic Counselors newsletters, and through the Genetic Support Network of Victoria social media. We completed semi-structured in-depth interviews with 12 Australian genetic counselors and analyzed the interviews using inductive thematic analysis. We found that genetic counselors viewed clients' mental well-being as an important and crucial part of their practice. Three key themes were identified, first, all the participants' views of clients' mental well-being were shaped by personal and professional beliefs. Second, all participants noted that there were factors external to them, such as workplace and professional guidelines, which shaped their role in clients' mental well-being. Third, all those interviewed noted the boundaries of their professional role in clients' mental well-being. From these three themes, we determined that genetic counselors see clients' mental well-being as an integral part of their practice. Our findings add to the extant literature and can shape future practice in this field. Furthermore, we identified how future research priorities could further our knowledge in this area.