Genetic Alliance coordinates existing family health history efforts, while simultaneously increasing the breadth and diversity of involved organizations. Family health history is especially important to individuals living with genetic and rare conditions. Most, if not all, diseases have some genetic component. Whether specific genes cause or increase one's risk for a condition, knowledge of family health history increases an individual's chances of making positive health choices.

Family Health History is an accessible tool which:

Family Health History in HRSA-supported Health Centers
Genetic Alliance is working with six HRSA-funded health centers to integrate family health history—specifically, the Does It Run In the Family? toolkit—into their clinical care and/or outreach practices.

This project is supported by Health Resources and Services Administration contract No. HHSH250201000035C.

Family Health History for Prenatal Providers
This project is a collaboration with the National Coalition for Health Professional Education in Genetics (NCHPEG), March of Dimes, Harvard Partners, and HRSA to produce a family history and screening tool for primary-care providers delivering prenatal care. The tool will be interactive and provide point-of-service clinical decision support and education for the healthcare provider as well as for the patient. The purpose of the tool is to improve prenatal care, especially related to genetic testing and family history screening.

This project is supported through a cooperative agreement from the Genetic Services Branch of the Maternal Child Health Bureau/HRSA/DHHS.

Community Centered Family Health History
Genetic Alliance partners with diverse communities to create tailored family health history tools. We believe that accessible tools produced by the community, for the community, will promote conversations about health within the family and translate knowledge of family health history into healthy choices. More than 20 partners customized the Does It Run In the Family? toolkit - check out the variations. 

This project is supported through a cooperative agreement from the Genetic Services Branch of the Maternal Child Health Bureau/HRSA/DHHS.

Family Health History in Practice
August 24-26, 2009, the National Institutes of Health convened a State of the Science Conference, Family History and Improving Health, focused on family health history in primary care. Genetic Alliance emphasizes the importance of considering other types of caregivers--families, community-based organizations, support groups, other support networks--when examining the evidence and making recommendations about the use of family health history. Read our response to the expert panel's suggestions for future research.

Coalition for Accessible Family Health History Tools
Consisting of a diverse group of community-based organizations, advocacy organizations, government agencies, researchers, and health professionals, this Coalition's goal is to promote family health history within all types of communities via the creation and dissemination of a How-to Guide: Using Family Health History Tools: A Guide to Making Tools Accessible to Your Community. Accessible to Your Community, currently available on WikiAdvocacy.

Family Health History Resources
This webpage provides links to help you find existing family health history tools and also highlights articles that address the following topics: