1. Reactions of Mothers and Medical Professionals to a Film About Down Syndrome
- Author
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Graham Jm, Cooley Wc, Graham Es, and Moeschler Jb
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Down syndrome ,Child rearing ,Attitude of Health Personnel ,business.industry ,Genetic counseling ,MEDLINE ,Mothers ,Nurses ,Videotape Recording ,Abortion, Induced ,Genetic Counseling ,Prenatal diagnosis ,Abortion ,medicine.disease ,behavioral disciplines and activities ,humanities ,Prenatal Diagnosis ,Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health ,medicine ,Down Syndrome ,Parent-Child Relations ,Psychiatry ,business - Abstract
• Parents, genetic counselors, and nurses were shown an 18-minute videotaped discussion involving parents of persons with Down syndrome and were asked to complete an evaluation. Some of the statistically significant differences were as follows: 89% of mothers believed that the film was an accurate portrayal of parental attitudes compared with 14% of the genetic counselors and 40% of the nurses; 48% of genetic counselors believed that problems outweigh the benefits in parenting a child with Down syndrome, but 94% of mothers and 83% of nurses thought that the benefits predominated; and 56% of genetic counselors believed that parents of a child with Down syndrome would choose to abort a subsequent affected fetus while only 8% of parents and 10% of nurses agreed. It is important that medical professionals have a balanced and accurate view of the impact of Down syndrome on families. ( AJDC . 1990;144:1112-1116)
- Published
- 1990
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