During this fiscal year, this education and counseling protocol has been written, and approved by the NCI IRB. This protocol is one that Caryn Lerman developed and that is extramurally-funded through NIMH. The project is designed to offer education and education and counseling (randomly) to first-degree female relatives of breast cancer victims.
The aims of the investigation are to 1. evaluate the relative impact of two pre-test education models on knowledge and attitudes about BRCA1 testing, testing plans and decisions, psychological well-being, and health behavior; 2. identify women most and least likely to benefit based on ethnicity, risk status, and coping styles; and 3. determine the mechanisms by which pre-test education contributes to improved outcomes. The MGB collaborators attend weekly research meetings at Georgetown University and have had primary responsibility for training the nurse educators in counseling skills. Overall, the project has accrued 368 individuals and 134 have received the education or education and counseling services at either Georgetown University or Washington Hospital Center. Several participants are scheduled to be seen at the Clinical Center at the NIH, but none have to date. Jan Wilison, nurse educator, is in the process of being credentialled at the Clinical Center. Several in-services are scheduled and pamphlets describing the project have been distributed. Plans are in place to begin accruing participants at the NIH. Referrals are being encouraged from colleagues at the Navy Medical Oncology Branch as well.
