Disclosing Genetic Test Results, Essay Example

The need to disclose any medical test results to family members especially if the record shows serious health cases is quite hard to contend with. Relatively, this is the reason why even though some patients have already received results for months, it takes them several more months to finally disclose the report to their families, trying to withhold particular emotions and hoping to calm down family members about the news. The study of Hamilton and his colleagues on the said topic provides a distinct data as to why such decision occurs and how it actually entails to create commotion in relation to family members-relations.

The study was conducted among patients diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease, a degenerative ailment that specifically brings about changes in an individual in a gradual manner causing him or her to lose control of himself and become less able to handle even the smallest decisions needed to be completed in a day. A patient facing this particular challenge needs all the support and understanding that family members could provide.

Interviewing 29 participants [24 of which actually took the test for Huntington’s and 5 others who refused to do so], the researchers were able to garner data that points out to the reasoning of the individuals who took a long time before they decided to actually disclose the message to their family members. In conclusion, the researchers pointed out that the reason for withholding the news for a certain peak of time is because of fear of how the family members would react to the matter. On the other end, it is also evidently important to consider how they felt about themselves and how they are still trying to accept the situation themselves. Upon feeling the need of being able to get the support from their families, they decide to finally present the situation. Overall, it denotes that the personal perspective of the patient towards the ailment they have to contend with specifically affects the way they decide on whether or not to present the situation to their family members immediately.

Gaining understanding from this particular research provides a helpful distinction on how patients feel about their situation and how that particular emotion correlates to how their family members accept their situation later on. Huntington’s disease is a relatively hard case to accept, nevertheless, with better understanding of the health-situation, accepting it and its condition of development would be easier to contend with thus helping out patients to disclose matters to their family members at an earlier pace.

Reference

Hamilton RJ, Bowers BJ, Williams JK. (2005). Disclosing genetic test results to family members. Journal for Nurse Scholars. Iowa.

Jadad AR, Rizo CA, Enkin MW (June 2003). “I am a good patient, believe it or not“. BMJ 326 (7402): 1293–5.