Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Spiritual Assessment in Genetic Counseling

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Journal of Genetic Counseling

One hundred and twenty seven full members of the National Society of Genetic Counselors participated in this study exploring current spiritual assessment practices of genetic counselors and reactions to a spiritual assessment tool. While 60% of genetic counselors reported they had performed a spiritual assessment within the past year, fewer than 8.7% of these counselors assessed spirituality in more than half of their sessions. Counselors reporting high perceived relevance of spiritual assessment performed an assessment more frequently than those reporting a low perceived relevance. Barriers to spiritual assessment included lack of time, insufficient skills, and uncertainty regarding the role of spiritual assessment within genetic counseling. Almost two-thirds of counselors expressed that having a spiritual assessment tool would increase their ability to elicit relevant information. These data suggest a need for increased training regarding the methods for and relevance of spiritual assessment in genetic counseling. Recommendations for future directions of research are explored.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Anandarajah, G., & Hight, E. (2001). Spirituality and medical practice: Using the HOPE questions as a practical tool for spiritual assessment. Am Fam Physician, 62(1), 81–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, R. R. (2002). Religious Traditions and Prenatal Genetic Counseling. University of Nebraska Medical Center: Munroe-Meyer Institute.

  • Bash, A. (2004). Spirituality: the emperor’s new clothes? J Clin Nurs, 13(1), 11–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biesecker, B. B. (2002, November). NSGC Practice Based Symposium- Spirituality in genetic counseling. Strategies in Genetic Counseling: Beyond the Basics, Symposium conducted at annual meeting of the National Society of Genetic Counselors, Phoenix, AZ.

  • Boyle, P. J. (2004). Genetics and pastoral counseling. Second Opin, 11, 4–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brush, B. L., & Daly, P. R. (2000). Assessing spirituality in primary care practice: Is there time? Clin Excell Nurse Pract, 4(2), 67–71.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ehman, J., Ott, B., Short, T., Ciampa, R., & Hansen-Flaschen, J. (1999). Do patients want physicians to inquire about their spiritual or religious beliefs if they become gravely ill? Arch Intern Med, 159, 1803–1806.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fine, B. A., Baker, D. L., Fiddler, M. B., & ABGC Consensus Development Consortium. (1996). Practice-based competencies for accreditation of and training in graduate programs in genetic counseling. J Genetic Couns, 5(3), 113–121.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, N. L. (Ed.). (1996). Cultural and Ethnic Diversity: A Guide for Genetics Professionals. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fukuyama, M. A., & Sevig, T. D. (2002). Spirituality in counseling across cultures. Pedersen, P. B., Draguns, J. G., Lonner, W. R., & Trimble, J. E. (Eds.), Counseling Across Cultures. (pp. 273–295). Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallup, G. H. (2002). Religion in America. Princeton Religion Research Center, New Jersey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenstreet, W. M. (1999). Teaching spirituality in nursing: A literature review. Nurse Educ Today, 19, 649–658.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Greenwald, D. F., & Harder, D. W. (2003). The dimensions of spirituality. Psychol Rep, 92, 975–980.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, T. W., & Edwards, K. J. (2002). The Spiritual Assessment Inventory: A theistic model and measure for assessing spiritual development. J Sci Study Religion, 41(2), 341–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hatch, R. L., Burg, M. A., Naberhaus, D. S., & Hellmich, L. K. (1998). The Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale: Development and testing of a new instrument. J Fam Pract, 46(6), 476–486.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heberlein, T. A., & Baumgartner, R. (1978). Factors affecting response rates to mailed questionnaires: A quantitative analysis of the published literature. Am Sociol Rev, 43(4), 447–462.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodge, D. R. (2001). Spiritual Assessment: A review of major qualitative methods and a new framework for assessing spirituality. Soc Work, 46(3), 203–214.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kaldjian, L. C., Jekel, J. F., & Friedland, G. (1998). End-of-life decisions in HIV-positive patients: The role of spiritual beliefs. AIDS, 12(1), 103–107.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • King, D. E., & Bushwick, B. (1994). Beliefs and attitudes of hospital inpatients about faith healing and prayer. J Fam Pract, 39(4), 349–352.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koenig, H. (2002). Spirituality in Patient Care: Why, How, When, and What. Templeton Foundation Press, Philadelphia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lemmer, C. (2002). Teaching the spiritual dimension of nursing care: A survey of U.S. baccalaureate nursing programs. J Nurs Educ, 41, 482–490.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • MacPherson, I. & Bisset, A. (1995). Not another questionnaire! Eliciting the views of general practitioners. Fam Pract, 12(3), 335–338.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, C. L. (1994). The impact of topic interest on mail survey response behavior. J Market Res Soc, 36(4), 327–338.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matz, C. M. (1999). Administration of Web versus paper surveys: Mode effects and response rates. Master’s thesis, University of North Carolina. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED439694).

  • Maugans, T. A. (1996). The SPIRITual history. Arch Fam Med, 5(1), 11–16.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McEwen, M. (2004). Analysis of spirituality content in nursing textbooks. J Nurs Educ, 43(10), 20–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McSherry, W., & Ross, L. (2002). Dilemmas of spiritual assessment: considerations for nursing practice. J Adv Nurs, 38(5), 479–488.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McVay, M. R. (2002). Medicine and spirituality: A simple path to restore compassion in medicine. S D J Med, 55(11), 487–91.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mertler, C. A. (2003). Patterns of response and nonresponse from teachers to traditional and Web surveys. Pract Assess Res Eval, 8(22).

  • Mills, P. J. (2002). Spirituality, religiousness, and health: From research to clinical practice. Ann Behav Med, 24(1), 1–2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parrott, S., Clark, C., & Mahoney Shannon, K. (2002). National Society of Genetic Counselors: Professional Status Survey 2002. Boston Information Solutions.

  • Puchalski, C. M., & Romer, A. L. (2000). Taking a spiritual history allows clinicians to understand patients more fully. J Palliat Med, 3, 129–137.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Salamone, J. (2002, November). Spirituality and its inclusion in genetic counseling practice. Strategies in Genetic Counseling: Beyond the Basics, Symposium conducted at annual meeting of the National Society of Genetic Counselors, Phoenix, AZ.

  • Schwartz, M. D., Hughes, C., Roth, J., Main, D., Peshkin, B. N., Isaacs, C., et al. (2000). Spiritual faith and genetic testing decisions among high-risk breast cancer probands. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev, 9, 381–385.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sheehan, K. (2001). E-mail survey response rates: A review. J Comput Mediated Commun, 6(2).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sheehan, K. B., & McMillan, S. J. (1999). Response variation in E-Mail surveys: An exploration. J Advert Res, 39(4), 45–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Solomon, D. (2001). Conducting Web-based surveys. Pract Assess Res Eval 7(19).

  • Swoboda, S., Mühlberger, N., Weitkunat, R., & Schneeweiß, S. (1997). Internet surveys by direct mailing. Soc Sci Comput Rev, 15(3), 242–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, E. J., Highfield, M. F., & Amenta, M. (1999). Predictors of oncology and hospice nurses’ spiritual care perspectives and practices. Appl Nurs Res, 12(1), 30–37.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, S. J. (2004). Using web and paper questionnaires for data-based decision making : from design to interpretation of the results. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Thoresen, C. E., & Harris, A. (2002). Spirituality and health: What’s the evidence and what’s needed. Ann Behav Med, 24(1), 3–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Treloar, L. L. (1999). Spiritual care: assessment and intervention. J Christ Nurs, 16(2), 15–18.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Weil, J. (2000). Psychosocial genetic counseling. Oxford University Press, pp. 50–52.

  • Wyatt, A., Best, R., Vincent, V., & Edwards, J. (1996, October). Religious convictions in genetic counseling: A survey of genetic counselors. 18th Annual Education Conference, Symposium conducted at annual meeting of the National Society of Genetic Counselors, Oakland, California.

  • Vandenbrink, R. A. (2001). Spiritual assessment: Comparing the tools. J Christ Nurs, 18(3), 24–27.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to thank the Bioethics Network of Ohio (BENO) for their generous grant which supported this research. We would also like to thank Gowri Anandarajah and Ellen Hight for granting permission to use the HOPE tool in our study

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Genetic Counseling Program, College of Allied Health Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Linda M. Reis & Nancy Steinberg Warren

  2. Division of Human Genetics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Linda M. Reis & Nancy Steinberg Warren

  3. Departments of Biology and Philosophy, Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Robert Baumiller

  4. Director of Pastoral Care, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    William Scrivener

  5. College of Education, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Geoffrey Yager

  6. P.O. Box 1997, MS # 716, Milwaukee, WI, 53201, USA

    Linda M. Reis

Authors
  1. Linda M. Reis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Robert Baumiller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. William Scrivener
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Geoffrey Yager
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Nancy Steinberg Warren
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Linda M. Reis.

APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONS FROM THE HOPE TOOL FOR SPIRITUAL ASSESSMENT AS PRESENTED IN THE SURVEY INSTRUMENT

APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONS FROM THE HOPE TOOL FOR SPIRITUAL ASSESSMENT AS PRESENTED IN THE SURVEY INSTRUMENT

H: Sources of hope, meaning, comfort, strength, peace, love, and connection:

  • We have been discussing your support systems. I was wondering, what are your sources of hope, strength, comfort, and peace?

  • What do you hold on to during difficult times?

  • What sustains you and keeps you going?

  • For some people, their religious or spiritual beliefs act as a source of comfort and strength in dealing with life’s ups and downs; is this true for you?

  • If the answer is yes, go on to O and P questions

  • If the answer is no, consider asking: Was it ever? What changed?

O: Role of organized religion:

  • Do you consider yourself part of an organized religion?

  • How important is your participation in an organized religion in your life?

  • What aspects of your religion are helpful and not so helpful to you at this difficult time?

  • Are you part of a religious or spiritual community?

  • How does being part of a religious or spiritual community help you?

P: Personal spirituality/practices:

  • Do you have personal spiritual beliefs that are independent of organized religion? What are they?

  • Do you believe in God?

  • What kind of relationship do you have with God?

  • What aspects of your spirituality or spiritual practices do you find most helpful to you personally? (eg, prayer, meditation, hiking)

E: Effects on medical care/end-of-life issues:

  • How has this experience affected your relationship with God?

  • Is there anything that I can do to help you access the spiritual resources that usually help you?

  • Are you worried about any conflicts between your beliefs and your medical situation/care/decisions?

  • Would it be helpful for you to speak to a clinical chaplain/community spiritual leader?

Adapted from: Anandarajah, G. & Hight, E. (2001). Spirituality and Medical Practice: Using the HOPE Questions as a Practical Tool for Spiritual Assessment. American Family Physician, 62(1), 81–89.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Reis, L.M., Baumiller, R., Scrivener, W. et al. Spiritual Assessment in Genetic Counseling. J Genet Counsel 16, 41–52 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-006-9041-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-006-9041-8

KEY WORDS:

Search

Navigation