Enlund Karolina Brunius, Jennolf Ebba, Pettersson Ann
Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Front Vet Sci. 2021 Nov 25;8:772589. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.772589. eCollection 2021.
Veterinary communication skills are fundamentally important in animal practice. Despite client-centered communication being recommended as the optimal medical communication style, a paternalistic approach is still common in veterinary medical encounters with pet owners. Motivational interviewing (MI) is a client-centered, evidence-based counseling method aiming to strengthen a person's motivation and commitment to behavior changes. In this exploratory study, the aim was to investigate Swedish small animal veterinarians' use of client centered communication with dog owners regarding dental home care in dogs. This was achieved by analyzing the use of MI-techniques among veterinarians without previous training or knowledge of the method. Individual telephone calls, reflecting a veterinary clinical scenario, between small animal veterinarians ( = 8) and a trained professional actor playing a dog owner were recorded and coded according to an MI coding protocol (MITI 4.2.1). In the present study, the degree of spontaneously used MI was low. From an MI-communication perspective, with a simulated dog owner, the veterinarians predominantly relied on asking questions, giving information, and persuasive talk. The veterinarians dominated the conversations and made minimal attempts to involve the dog owner resulting in a power imbalance between veterinarian and client. As the degree of spontaneously used MI was found to be low, MI-training may be required in order to apply the method in professional counseling. The veterinarians' communication pattern suggested a paternalistic communication style, when attempting to motivate a client to brush his or her dog's teeth. We suggest that Motivational Interviewing (MI) has a potential to improve veterinary communication and adherence to medical recommendations if introduced and implemented in veterinary practice.
兽医沟通技巧在动物医疗实践中至关重要。尽管以客户为中心的沟通被推荐为最佳医疗沟通方式，但家长式方法在兽医与宠物主人的医疗接触中仍然很常见。动机性访谈（MI）是一种以客户为中心、基于证据的咨询方法，旨在增强个人改变行为的动机和承诺。在这项探索性研究中，目的是调查瑞典小动物兽医在与狗主人就犬只口腔家庭护理方面使用以客户为中心的沟通情况。这是通过分析在没有先前该方法培训或知识的兽医中MI技术的使用情况来实现的。记录了小动物兽医（n = 8）与扮演狗主人的训练有素的专业演员之间反映兽医临床场景的个人电话，并根据MI编码协议（MITI 4.2.1）进行编码。在本研究中，自发使用MI的程度较低。从MI沟通的角度来看，与模拟的狗主人交流时，兽医主要依赖提问、提供信息和说服性谈话。兽医主导了对话，很少尝试让狗主人参与，导致兽医和客户之间的权力不平衡。由于发现自发使用MI的程度较低，可能需要进行MI培训以便在专业咨询中应用该方法。当试图激励客户为其狗刷牙时，兽医的沟通模式表明是一种家长式沟通风格。我们建议，如果在兽医实践中引入并实施动机性访谈（MI），它有可能改善兽医沟通和对医疗建议的依从性。
