Relationship-centred communications in spectrum of care practice
In our March 2024 newsletter, we discussed the concept of “spectrum of care practice”. This approach involves considering and discussing with an animal’s owner a range of care options taking into account:
- the animal’s wellbeing and welfare
- the client/owner’s financial resources, ability to comply with treatment requirements, values and beliefs, expectations, and care goals
- the vet’s knowledge and skill
- practice capacity
- scientific evidence, and
- professional guidelines.
A client-centred approach, where the vet asks the owner open-ended questions and actively listens, may help the owner to share important information about the context. But having these conversations can be challenging and time consuming, and often takes an
emotional toll.
Good communication skills are not inherent. Developing the non-technical competencies and skills to be able to engage differently with different clients to settle on the best options for their specific animals takes time and is a continuing process.
In the vetThrive Collective Podcast, Dr Megan Alderson interviews Dr Michael Meehan, a practising vet and adjunct senior lecturer at Massey University.
Dr Meehan spoke about his research measuring human-animal attachment using methods developed to explore the human attachment bond, ‘How well connected we feel with other people emotionally... starts with the mother to child relationship, close proximity, showing distress when detached.’ The idea with the human-animal bond is, he says, ‘[the client] is like a mother taking their child to a paediatrician; they become a voice for their child, and my communication [as a vet] should be like a doctor[’s].’
He found that clients who are “highly bonded” to their animals demand a greater degree of acknowledgement of the role of their pet in their lives. He suggests that communication should be relationship-centred and provide clients with the opportunity to share their thoughts, ideas and concerns, because their pet is like a family member.
Dr Meehan says, ‘Whether you’re bonded to your pet or not, you should expect to receive really good communication, but with highly-bonded clients it’s a non-negotiable: make sure you check in with... what they’re thinking and feeling and acknowledge the human animal bond.’
Moreover, it’s important for vets to check in with themselves before conversations with clients:
One of the hardest challenges with communication skills and managing emotions, whether it's grief or anger or whatever, is each one of us holds experiences of how we managed emotion-charged situations prior to us becoming a vet, and that's one of the key takeaway points for anyone who is about to talk with a client who's upset or angry.
I was about to call her and I had to check in with myself to see, ‘Where's my emotional agitation at the moment?’ and interestingly I was feeling like I was up for a fight, ‘It’s all her and I’m going to defend my team...’
As soon as I was aware of that, I didn't call her because I knew I had to go and have something to eat - it's amazing how many times if you're hungry, angry or tired you just have to eat and have a rest.
After, I just felt like the edge came off and suddenly I was able to focus: ‘My main goal here is to become a sounding board and a listener first: Explore, Listen, Reflect.’
What is touched on here is how integral keeping in good health, managing stress and building resilience are to communicating with clients.
Building and maintaining team relationships is also essential, as communication is a team task. A multidisciplinary approach can support complex client patient needs as discussed in the Australian Veterinary Association’s policy, Animal welfare and humanwellbeing – vulnerability of clients and veterinary staff.
More information and learning opportunities
Relevant guidelines