SICKLE-CELL TRAIT COUNSELING - EVALUATION OF COUNSELORS AND COUNSELEES

  • 1 January 1981
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 33  (5) , 802-816
Abstract
Information about both counselee and counselor performance was obtained from taped recordings of 193 structured counseling sessions with persons diagnosed as having sickle cell traits. The data provides evidence that: lay persons can understand essential sickle cell information; trained lay persons using a structured format can successfully transmit sickle cell information; only education and age, among counselee characteristics studied, were related to successful learning; the evaluation of information transfer in counseling programs cannot be limited to counselees'' comprehension but must also consider other variables such as counselor performance and curriculum content; a reduction in negative feelings associated with a diagnosis of sickle cell trait is an immediate effect of counseling; and audio-taping of counseling sessions is client acceptable and useful for evaluation, quality control and counselor training.