Small Animal Veterinarians' Communication With Dog Owners From a Motivational Interviewing Perspective

Abstract

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 (n = 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.

Long-term effects of motivational interviewing vs. traditional counseling on dog owners’ adherence to veterinary dental home care: a three-year follow-up study

“…Previous studies have demonstrated that paternalistic communication is prevalent among veterinarians ( 20 , 21 ), despite the recommendation for client-centered communication ( 17 ). In this study, the individual who conducted the conversations, KBE, ensured method fidelity through the MITI protocol.…”

Factors within A Veterinarian-Cattle Farmer Relationship That May Impact on Biosecurity Being Carried out on Farms: An Exploratory Study

“…The growing evidence of the use of MI in the veterinary context [ 23 , 26 , 64 ] is encouraging, though further research is needed to consolidate its efficacy. The small number of vet–farmer studies in this area does not provide the same volume of evidence that MI does within the human healthcare literature.…”

„Bitte erklären Sie mir das noch genauer!“ – das Kognitionsbedürfnis von Pferdehaltern in der Tierarzt-Kunden-Beziehung

“…Eine der größten Veränderungen in der medizinischen Welt besteht darin, Patienten/Klienten bewusst in die medizinischen Entscheidungs- und Behandlungsprozesse einzubeziehen 6 . In diesem Rahmen findet das Modell der gemeinsamen Entscheidungsfindung (SDM), das in den 1990er Jahren eingeführt wurde, viel Anerkennung und wird heute sowohl von Tierärzten als auch von Tierbesitzern bevorzugt 7 , 8 , 9 .…”