Family History films now available

The new educational films will be useful for healthcare professionals learning how to take a family history from patients

The programme has today published a new collection of educational resources, aimed at healthcare professionals wanting to learn how to take and draw a genetic family tree. They can be used both as teaching tools and for self-study.

The collection comprises six films, based on three patient scenarios. For each scenario, there is a ‘conversation’ film and a ‘drawing’ film.

The first set of films shows the conversation between the health professional and the patient in order to take a family history (see below), and has been developed for learners to watch and draw their own pedigree as the conversation takes place. They can then compare their own drawing with the health professional’s version.

The second set of films focuses on the pedigree drawing itself, and allows the learner to see the different lines and symbols that are used to build each patient’s genetic family history.

You can take a look at one of the films below. We recommend using them in conjunction with our family history drawing tools, which can be ordered by emailing us with a request. The programme is also developing a short educational module on taking a family history to be launched in spring. Please subscribe to our newsletter for updates regarding its release.