25 Jan 2016
Helping assistance dog owners

Image: © Freeimages/Stacey Bry.
Working in veterinary practice involves meeting, talking and interacting with a variety of different people in routine, stressful or upsetting situations.

In recent years, the veterinary profession has recognised the importance of good communication skills and these attributes are now part of the requirements of educational programmes for both veterinary surgeons and nurses (RCVS, 2014a).
However, the main focus of these requirements is to understand how to communicate, identify if an owner is upset, recognise specific behaviour and deal with challenging situations. All of this relates to working with clients who have full vision or hearing.
To date, very little has been done to help prepare students to work with clients who may have visual impairments, hearing difficulties or mobility issues.
Assistance dogs (guide dogs, hearing dogs, mobility assistance dogs and service dogs) have an important part to play in society (Audrestch et al, 2015), giving people great independence. These owners will visit a veterinary practice at some point for routine check-ups, vaccination or for more serious problems.
While the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 highlights the requirement for premises to cater for the physical needs of all clients, it does little to address how to prepare staff to communicate effectively with a client who may not be able to see or hear the veterinary professional.
In the UK it is estimated two million people are registered blind (BBC News, 2012); 900,000 people are severely or profoundly deaf and 11 million people are affected by some form of hearing loss (Action on Hearing Loss, 2015). These figures suggest a profession that deals with people (and animals) should be able to communicate with all of their clients – regardless of whether they have an assistance dog.
Guidelines for staff
England et al (2014), McCain (2006) and Guide Dogs (2015) have published guidelines for veterinary staff on how best to work with guide dog owners.
While some practices have taken these on board, my own work has shown not all practitioners are aware of what is expected of them or feel comfortable working with clients with a visual impairment.
Why is this the case? Part of the problem comes from embarrassment – wanting to help, but not being sure of what is expected of them, and also being afraid of causing offence. This is where being good at communication can help. Being able to ask, in a friendly way, if assistance is needed won’t cause offence. However, assuming what is required, and possibly giving assistance where none is required, is going to cause offence.
Initial training offered by Guide Dogs for veterinary nursing students provided them with an understanding and ability to empathise with guide dog owners. Training involved students learning how to guide someone safely, how important it is to talk to an owner and involve them in the consultation, how to help with giving medication and how to pre-empt possible problems that may be encountered by an owner.
Providing information
Modern technology means information can be provided in many different ways – such as emails and MP3s – yet, current work reveals practitioners still rely on verbal communication when advising owners about home care and the provision of medication.
To increase compliance and a successful treatment outcome, we need to think about how the owner will manage the case at home, and this applies to all owners.
Again, communication is highlighted – asking owners how they would like to be provided with information is important, giving them a choice about formats that may be required.
There is an assumption that owners with sight problems may require information in a Braille format, but only one per cent of the two million people who are registered blind in the UK read Braille (BBC News, 2012). There is also an assumption that anyone with a guide dog is blind. Again, this is not always the case, so show an interest and ask what format the owner would like information to be provided in.
Taking time in the veterinary curriculum to educate students about the requirements of clients with disabilities will ensure prospective professionals have a greater understanding of the needs of all of their clients, ensuring inclusivity.
It is recognised that stress and mental health problems are prevalent in the veterinary profession (RCVS 2014b). Work by Shaw et al (2004) demonstrated good communication leads to a better quality of health care, greater client satisfaction and also greater physician satisfaction. Preparing students for practice is a challenge, but should, wherever possible, link to the realities of everyday practice in an attempt to address the variety of situations veterinary practitioners find themselves in.
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