© British Association of Social Workers
Huntington's Chorea and the Young Person at Risk
Jacqueline Korer is a Research Associate in the Mental Health Social Work Research and Staff Development Unit in the Department of Psychiatry, Manchester University. She has previously done research into the social consequences of schizophrenia, other severe psychiatric disorders and the nature and extent of psychiatric morbidity in the clients of social workers. She has published several papers in these areas.
Dr J. S. Fitzsimmons is Consultant and Director for the Department of Clinical Genetics, City Hospital, Hucknall Road, Nottingham, NG5 1PB, and is the author of Handbook of Clinical Genetics, Birth Defects, etc.
Correspondence should be sent to J. R. Korer, Mental Health Research Unit, Manchester University, Department of Psychiatry, Stopford Building, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT.
Summary
Social workers increasingly find themselves involved with families in which one or more individuals suffer from genetic disease. Huntington's chorea is such a condition and has serious implications for other individuals, both in the nuclear and extended family. This paper explores some of the likely responses of young people in such families and how they can best be helped. A social worker needs to be aware of the differing responses to varying degrees of risk and how young people in the situation can be advised and helped. It follows on from an earlier study (Korer and Fitzsimmons, 1985) which looked more specifically at family life within these families.