Responsible SIG: SIG psychology and counseling Chair: Dr. S. Gameiro
Current status of the guideline: (last update: 4/1/2012)The guideline development group is currently busy with writing the key questions. The next GDG group meeting is planned in April 2012.
Scope of the Guideline:This guideline offers best practice advice on how psychosocial care can be incorporated/implemented to the benefit of patients and health care providers in the field of infertility and medically assisted reproduction. We aimed (THINK SHOULD BE AIM - present tense - HERE as the guidelines are not done yet...) to define important key-moments across the patients’ treatment pathway at which psychosocial care can/should be provided, set up as a "horizontal" time-line approach towards the infertile patient (individual, couple) along all the stages. A "vertical" approach concerning the "tailored support to patient characteristics” gives guidance on the routine components of psychosocial care to be implemented, ranging from patient-centered care to fertility counseling ending with psychotherapy and/or psychiatric interventions.
This guideline aims to take the different ways in which health care and therefore counseling provision is managed throughout the European countries into account. Despite socio-cultural and legal differences in Europe, we aim to make a framework which can be applied to all countries, both psychosocial highly developed and countries with lower developed psychosocial care. It was aimed (AIMS, for the same reason) to homogenize the effort towards psychosocial care, rather than the delivery of psychosocial care across Europe itself.