Focus Groups on Personalised Medicine
Personalised medicine is also referred to as pharmacogenetics, the study of how people’s genetic makeup affects their responses to drugs. Nowgen worked with CESAGen to explore public views about pharmacogenetics through a qualitative research project.
This research explored the views of 14 focus groups from traditionally hard-to-reach communities, including senior citizens, young people and parents of young children. It also elicited the views of members of the Chinese, Jewish and Afro-Caribbean communities from the Manchester area.
Research Findings
Members of the public reported:
- strong concern about the increased responsibility associated with genetic testing and genetic information
- concern that pharmacogenetic information might impact negatively upon their families and may limit access to key services
- a potential lack of trust in acquiring personalised information (for example in the context of commercialised genetic testing)
- significant concern that political dimensions of pharmacogenetics (equal access, data storage, healthcare priorities) required individual solutions
This work is summarised in:
Pieri E and Wilson S. Pharmacogenetics: drugs and treatment specifically tailored to our needs Genomics Network. 2004. Issue 1.
and was cited in:
The Royal Society: Pharmacogenetics Dialogue . Findings from public workshops on personalized medicines held by the Royal Society’s Science in Society programme, (2005).
Links
CESAGen (part of the ESRC Genomics Network)
