Hale Helena, Blackwell Emily, Roberts Claire, Roe Emma, Mullan Siobhan
Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Langford BS40 5DU, UK.
School of Geography and Environmental Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK.
Animals (Basel). 2023 Jan 24;13(3):392. doi: 10.3390/ani13030392.
Few veterinary professionals use formal quality of life (QOL) assessment tools despite their recommendation from veterinary governing bodies to enable holistic welfare assessments and target welfare improvement strategies. Perceived barriers include resistance from owners, and this study aimed to elucidate understanding of dog owner engagement with conversations and tools relating to QOL. An online survey that investigated owner experience, comfort, and opinions about vet-client discussions on topics connected to canine health and well-being, including QOL, was completed by 410 owners. Almost all owners (95.8%) were reportedly comfortable discussing QOL, yet only 32% reported their vets had addressed it. A high proportion of owners (70.8%) expressed interest in assessment tools, but only 4.4% had experienced one, none of which were QOL tools per se. Semi-structured interviews of a sub-set of four owners provided a more in-depth examination of their experience of a health and well-being assessment tool. Thematic analysis generated three themes: 'Use of assessment tools supports client-vet relationship and empowers owners', 'Owners want to talk about holistic dog care', and 'Owner feelings on the wider application of assessment tools'. Overall, our findings suggest that owners want to broaden the veterinary consultation conversation to discuss QOL and are interested in using tools, and therefore veterinary perceptions of owner-related barriers to tool application appear unfounded. Indeed, tool uptake appears to improve the vet-client relationship and boost owner confidence.
尽管兽医管理机构建议使用正式的生活质量（QOL）评估工具，以进行全面的福利评估并制定福利改善策略，但很少有兽医专业人员使用这些工具。公认的障碍包括来自宠物主人的抵触情绪，而本研究旨在阐明对狗主人参与有关QOL的对话和工具的理解。410名宠物主人完成了一项在线调查，该调查调查了主人对兽医与客户就与犬类健康和福祉相关主题（包括QOL）进行讨论的体验、舒适度和看法。据报道，几乎所有主人（95.8%）都愿意讨论QOL，但只有32%的主人表示他们的兽医曾提及过这一话题。很大一部分主人（70.8%）对评估工具表示感兴趣，但只有4.4%的主人使用过评估工具，且这些工具本身都不是QOL工具。对四位主人进行的半结构化访谈更深入地考察了他们对健康和福祉评估工具的体验。主题分析产生了三个主题：“使用评估工具支持客户与兽医的关系并增强主人的能力”、“主人希望谈论全面的犬类护理”以及“主人对评估工具更广泛应用的感受”。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，主人希望扩大兽医咨询对话的范围以讨论QOL，并对使用工具感兴趣，因此兽医认为主人对工具应用存在相关障碍的看法似乎没有根据。事实上，采用工具似乎可以改善兽医与客户的关系并增强主人的信心。
