The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has rendered in-person provision of genetic counseling impossible for prolonged periods in many countries, mandating a sudden shift to remote delivery. We used qualitative thematic analysis to explore Italian genetics professionals’ experience with remote genetic counseling. Fourteen group and four individual interviews were conducted after participants had delivered one or more remote sessions via videoconference or on the telephone. Data were coded and grouped under themes. Three main themes were identified as follows: (a) technical and logistical issues, (b) communication issues, and (c) clinical content and outcome of the session. The participants acknowledged that not having to travel to the clinic saves consultands time and expense. They also highlighted that not sharing a physical space with consultands and having to rely on technology can negatively impact on effective communication, building trusting relationships, and performing accurate psychosocial assessments. Regarding the clinical content of sessions, remote genetic counseling was perceived to favor greater focus and succinct, to the point communication. However, participants also felt uncomfortable not being able to use visual aids to support the explanation of complex concepts. Moreover, demographics and the socio-cultural status of consultands emerged as factors influencing the outcome of remote genetic counseling sessions. Finally, participants reported feeling that more experience with this novel approach would improve their confidence and their ability to adapt their counseling skills as appropriate. Based on these findings, we suggest that effective, equitable provision of remote genetic counseling will require an infrastructure that is able to support video counseling, sharing of clinical documents and visual aids, and connect with a wide range of devices. Moreover, the structure of sessions should be tailored to the specific requirements of remote genetic counseling and suitable training efforts should be promoted to enhance professionals’ communication skills.

中文翻译：

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在 COVID-19 大流行期间突然转向远程遗传咨询：意大利遗传学专业人士的经验

2020 年的 COVID-19 大流行使许多国家无法长时间亲自提供遗传咨询，因此不得不突然转向远程交付。我们使用定性主题分析来探索意大利遗传学专业人士在远程遗传咨询方面的经验。在参与者通过视频会议或电话进行了一次或多次远程会议后，进行了十四组和四次个人访谈。数据被编码并按主题分组。确定了以下三个主题：(a) 技术和后勤问题，(b) 沟通问题，以及 (c) 会议的临床内容和结果。参与者承认，不必前往诊所可以节省咨询时间和费用。他们还强调，不与顾问共享物理空间并且不得不依赖技术会对有效沟通、建立信任关系和进行准确的心理社会评估产生负面影响。关于会议的临床内容，远程遗传咨询被认为有利于更集中、更简洁、直截了当的沟通。然而，参与者也对无法使用视觉辅助工具来支持对复杂概念的解释感到不舒服。此外，咨询人员的人口统计和社会文化地位成为影响远程遗传咨询会议结果的因素。最后，参与者报告说，使用这种新颖的方法获得更多经验将提高他们的信心和适当调整咨询技能的能力。基于这些发现，我们建议有效、公平地提供远程遗传咨询将需要一个能够支持视频咨询、共享临床文件和视觉辅助工具并与各种设备连接的基础设施。此外，课程结构应根据远程遗传咨询的具体要求进行调整，并应促进适当的培训工作，以提高专业人员的沟通技巧。