Genetic Counseling Service Delivery and Outcomes in Diverse and Underserved Populations

The overarching goal of this pilot prospective randomized controlled study is to compare patient-reported and clinical operations outcomes between in-person genetic counseling (IPGC - control) and telephone-based genetic counseling (TGC - intervention) in an indigent English or Spanish-speaking population seeking genetic counseling for hereditary cancer syndromes to create a framework for effective and efficient genetic service delivery in these populations nationally. General genetic education and principles will be conveyed through a standard genetic counseling session including a pre-test education video in both the TGC and IPGC arms. The primary project objectives are to compare the following outcomes between the IPGC and TGC study arms. Aim 1: Patient reported outcomes - A. Patient satisfaction with genetic counseling visit; B. Knowledge of basic principles of cancer genetics and implications of genetic testing for personal healthcare and relatives. Secondary objectives for this aim are: 1. Patient ability to make informed choice; and 2. Genetic counseling-specific empowerment outcomes. Aim 2: Clinical outcomes - visit completion rate; Secondary objectives are: 1. Genetic testing completion rate; and 2. Genetic testing cancelation/failure rate. Investigators hypothesize that patients in the TGC arm will not have significant differences in knowledge, satisfaction, informed choice or genetic counseling-specific empowerment compared to the IPGC arm. Investigators also expect significantly increased visit completion rate and lower test completion rate in the TGC arm compared to the IPGC arm, but no significant difference in sample failure rate.