Purpose: Expanded carrier screening (ECS) during prenatal care is an important test for identifying prospective parents' risk of inherited genetic diseases. However, barriers remain for effectively educating patients about ECS. Graphic medicine (i.e. comics) has grown as a mechanism for patient education. The purpose of this study was to explore attitudes and opinions of a comic to educate about ECS during prental care. Methods: Focus groups were conducted with pregnant women or women who recently gave birth (6 groups, n=54). The participants were all female, 44.4% Latino/Hispanic, 16.7% Bi-Racial/Other, and 43.3% reporting some college education or high school degree. Results: Most participants reported high enjoyment with the comic due to their relatability to the characters, simplicity of the story, description of medical outcomes in everyday terms and the exploration of multiple outcomes possible with ECS. In addition, participants reported that during pregnancy their reading habits increase as well as emotional reactions to the content and some participants stated they avoided reading information that may cause stress or anxiety. Conclusion: More research is needed to assess what features of the comic promote understanding and how that influences decisions and pre-test patient education for ECS. The use of graphic narratives may enable individuals to better understand medical information in general.
Purpose: Expanded carrier screening (ECS) during prenatal care is an important test for identifying prospective parents' risk of inherited genetic diseases. However, barriers remain for effectively educating patients about ECS. Graphic medicine (i.e. comics) has grown as a mechanism for patient education. The purpose of this study was to explore attitudes and opinions of a comic to educate about ECS during prental care. Methods: Focus groups were conducted with pregnant women or women who recently gave birth (6 groups, n=54). The participants were all female, 44.4% Latino/Hispanic, 16.7% Bi-Racial/Other, and 43.3% reporting some college education or high school degree. Results: Most participants reported high enjoyment with the comic due to their relatability to the characters, simplicity of the story, description of medical outcomes in everyday terms and the exploration of multiple outcomes possible with ECS. In addition, participants reported that during pregnancy their reading habits increase as well as emotional reactions to the content and some participants stated they avoided reading information that may cause stress or anxiety. Conclusion: More research is needed to assess what features of the comic promote understanding and how that influences decisions and pre-test patient education for ECS. The use of graphic narratives may enable individuals to better understand medical information in general.
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Keywords:
focus groups; genetic carrier screening; health education; health literacy; narration
Authors: Janice G Edwards; Gerald Feldman; James Goldberg; Anthony R Gregg; Mary E Norton; Nancy C Rose; Adele Schneider; Katie Stoll; Ronald Wapner; Michael S Watson Journal: Obstet Gynecol Date: 2015-03 Impact factor: 7.661
Authors: Sumit Punj; Yassmine Akkari; Jennifer Huang; Fei Yang; Allison Creason; Christine Pak; Amiee Potter; Michael O Dorschner; Deborah A Nickerson; Peggy D Robertson; Gail P Jarvik; Laura M Amendola; Jennifer Schleit; Dana Kostiner Simpson; Alan F Rope; Jacob Reiss; Tia Kauffman; Marian J Gilmore; Patricia Himes; Benjamin Wilfond; Katrina A B Goddard; C Sue Richards Journal: Am J Hum Genet Date: 2018-05-10 Impact factor: 11.025