Work

Making sense of genetic uncertainty: The role of religion and spirituality

Year: 2009

Type: article

Abstract: This article argues that to the extent that religious and spiritual beliefs can help people cope with genetic uncertainty, a limited spiritual assessment may be appropriate in genetic counseling. The article opens by establishing why genetic information is inherently uncertain and why this uncertainty can be medically, morally, and spiritually problematic. This is followed by a review of the range of factors that can contribute to risk assessments, including a few heuristics commonly used in responses to uncertainty. The next two sections summarize recent research on the diverse roles of religious and spiritual beliefs in genetic decisions and challenges to conducting spiritual assessments in genetic counseling. Based on these findings, religious and spiritual beliefs are posited as serving essentially as a heuristic that some people will utilize in responding to their genetic risks. In the interests of helping such clients make informed decisions, a limited spiritual assessment is recommended and described. Some of the challenges and risks associated with this limited assessment are discussed. Since some religious and spiritual beliefs can conflict with the values of medicine, some decisions will remain problematic.

Source: American Journal of Medical Genetics Part C Seminars in Medical Genetics

DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.c.30196

Author: Mary T. White

Institution: Wright State University

Language: English

Topic: Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology

Subfield: Health

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Human Genome Research Institute

Awards: G3880819370, G4596031781, Religion and Genomics: Navigating Pathways and Perspectives of Patient Care