Grant: Catalyst Grant: Personalized Health Catalyst Grants

Cancer is a genetic disease. It is estimated that 5-10% of cancers are inherited through family members. To identify patients' risk for developing hereditary cancers, genetic testing can be used. In many circumstances, genetic testing may reveal uncertain results or unexpected results about other diseases. Communicating genetic test results to patients is challenging for health care practitioners. This is because they want to ensure that patients understand and communicate their preferences for receiving genetic test results. This process is called shared decision-making. Tools to aid patients in communicating their preferences for receiving hereditary cancer genetic test results need to be developed. Our goal is to improve shared decision-making and the delivery of complex genetic information to patients through the development of an e-health App. To achieve our goal, we will ask patients about their views on different characteristics affecting their understanding of genetic test results. We will use this information to develop and test an e-health App that patients can use to understand test results. We will also determine patients' preferences for receiving genetic test information. We will elicit feedback on this App from health care practitioners and patients. This research will improve patient well-being by supporting shared decision-making when returning genetic test information.