Resources

Podcasts

Podcast Series on Veterinary Mental Wellness

Often times, those experiencing challenges suffer in silence. They fear the negative repercussions of discussing their challenges openly. As a society, we need to say “no more is it acceptable to suffer in silence. You are  not alone.” 

The I Matter Podcast is focused on arming Ontario veterinarians with knowledge and strategies to better cope with and respond to the challenges they face in their professional and personal lives. We’re chatting with practitioners and mental wellness experts to give veterinarians a voice, and show others that they are not alone. Here’s some of the discussions we’ve had:

Infosheets

Looking to print, post, or share some of the content from I Matter? Click below to view a number of infosheets we’ve prepared to help share information on veterinary mental wellness:

For more information

Organizations offering resources on mental health

• Ontario Veterinary Medical Association
• Canadian Mental Health Association
• Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project
• CVMA Veterinary Mental Health and Wellness
• Depression Hurts
• Mental Health Works
• Mental Health Commission of Canada
• Vetlife – Looking After the Veterinary Profession
• Working Through It
• WellCan
• Connex Ontario
• American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (for health-care professionals)

References to research

• CVMA News. 2012. “Wellness of Veterinarians: CVMA National Survey Results.” Canadian Veterinary Journal 53: 1159–60.
• Bartram, David J., and David S. Baldwin. 2010. “Veterinary Surgeons and Suicide: A Structured Review of Possible Influences on Increased Risk.” Veterinary Record 166 (13): 388–97. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.b4794.
• American Psychological Association. The Road to Resilience. https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/road-resilience
• Cake, Martin A., Michelle M. McArthur, Susan M. Matthew, and Caroline F. Mansfield. 2017. “Finding the Balance: Uncovering Resilience in the Veterinary Literature.” Journal of Veterinary Medical Education 44 (1): 95–105. https://doi.org/10.3138/jvme.0116-025R
• Walsh, Roger. 2011. “Lifestyle and Mental Health.” American Psychologist 66 (7): 579–92. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021769
• Fox, Susan, Sinéad Lydon, Dara Byrne, Caoimhe Madden, Fergal Connolly, and Paul O’Connor. 2018. “A Systematic Review of Interventions to Foster Physician Resilience.” Postgraduate Medical Journal. https://doi.org/10.1136/postgradmedj-2017-135212
• Mastenbroek, Nicole J J M. 2017. “The Art of Staying Engaged: The Role of Personal Resources in the Mental Well-being of Young Veterinary Professionals.” Journal of Veterinary Medical Education 44 (1): 84–94. https://doi.org/10.3138/jvme.0216-041R1
• McArthur, Michelle, Caroline Mansfield, Susan Matthew, Sanaa Zaki, Conor Brand, Jena Andrews, and Susan Hazel. 2017. “Resilience in Veterinary Students and the Predictive Role of Mindfulness and Self-Compassion.” Journal of Veterinary Medical Education 44 (1): 106–15. https://doi.org/10.3138/jvme.0116-027R1
• Bartram D, Turley G. “Managing the causes of work-related stress.” In Practice 2009;31:400-405. http://dx.doi.org.subzero.lib.uoguelph.ca/10.1136/inpract.31.8.400
• Maslach, Christina, Wilmar B Schaufeli, Michael P Leiter, and W Shaufeli. 2001. “Job Burnout.” Annual Review of Pyschology 52: 397–422. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.397
• Perret, Jennifer L., Colleen O. Best, Jason B. Coe, Amy L. Greer, Deep K. Khosa, and Andria Q. Jones-Bitton. 2019. “Prevalence of Mental Health Outcomes among a Sample of Canadian Veterinarians.” Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. https://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/full/10.2460/javma.256.3.365
• Hayes, Galina M., Denise F. LaLonde-Paul, Jennifer L Perret, Andrea Steele, Marina McConkey, William G. Lane, Rosalind J. Kopp, Hannah K. Stone, Andria Jones-Bitton. 2019. “Investigation of burnout syndrome and associations with job-related risk factors in veterinary technicians working in specialty teaching hospital settings: a multi-center cross-sectional study.” https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/vec.12916?af=R
• Moore, Irene C, Jason B Coe, Cindy L Adams, Peter D Conlon, and Jan M Sargeant. 2014. “The Role of Veterinary Team Effectiveness in Job Satisfaction and Burnout in Companion Animal Veterinary Clinics.” Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 245 (5): 513–24. https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.245.5.513
• Black, Anne F, Helen R Winefield, and Anna Chur-Hansen. 2011. “Occupational Stress in Veterinary Nurses: Roles of the Work Environment and Own Companion Animal.” Anthrozoos 24 (2): 191–202. https://doi.org/10.2752/175303711X12998632257503
• Stamm, Beth Hudnall. 2010. The Concise ProQOL Manual. 2nd Edition. Pocatello.
• La Rosa, GM De, JA Webb-Murphy, SF Fesperman, and SL Johnston. 2018. “Professional Quality of Life Normative Benchmarks.” Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy 10 (2): 225–28. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000263
• Moses, Lisa, Monica J. Malowney, and Jon Wesley Boyd. 2018. “Ethical Conflict and Moral Distress in Veterinary Practice: A Survey of North American Veterinarians.” Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 32 (6): 2115–22. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.15315
• Rollin, Bernard E. 2011. “Euthanasia, Moral Stress, and Chronic Illness in Veterinary Medicine.” Veterinary Clinics of North America – Small Animal Practice. Elsevier Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cvsm.2011.03.005
• Cohen, Susan P. 2007. “Compassion Fatigue and the Veterinary Health Team.” Veterinary Clinics of North America – Small Animal Practice. Elsevier Inc. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cvsm.2006.09.006
• Russell, Mark, and Matt Brickell. 2015. “The ‘Double-Edge Sword’ of Human Empathy: A Unifying Neurobehavioral Theory of Compassion Stress Injury.” Social Sciences 4 (November): 1087–1117. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci4041087
• Sinclair, Shane, Shelley Raffin-Bouchal, Lorraine Venturato, Jane Mijovic-Kondejewski, and Lorraine Smith-MacDonald. 2017. “Compassion Fatigue: A Meta-Narrative Review of the Healthcare Literature.” International Journal of Nursing Studies 69 (April): 9–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2017.01.003
• Moses, Lisa, Monica J. Malowney, and Jon Wesley Boyd. 2018. “Ethical Conflict and Moral Distress in Veterinary Practice: A Survey of North American Veterinarians.” Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 32 (6): 2115–22. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.15315
• Skipper, Gregory E., and Jerome B. Williams. 2012. “Failure to Acknowledge High Suicide Risk among Veterinarians.” Journal of Veterinary Medical Education 39 (1): 79–82. https://doi.org/10.3138/jvme.0311.034R
• Fink-Miller, Erin L, and Lisa M Nestler. 2018. “Suicide in Physicians and Veterinarians: Risk Factors and Theories.” Current Opinion in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.07.019
• Cron, William L, John V Slocum, David B Goodnight, and John O Volk. 1998. “JAVMA Executive Summary: Impact of Management Practices and Business Behaviors on Small Animal Veterinarians’ Incomes.” Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 215: 161–83.
• Ruby, Kathleen L., and Richard M. DeBowes. 2007. “The Veterinary Health Care Team: Going from Good to Great.” Veterinary Clinics of North America – Small Animal Practice. Elsevier Inc. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cvsm.2006.10.004
• Leiter MP, Laschinger HK, Day A, et al. The impact of civility interventions on employee social behaviour, distress, and attitudes. J Appl Psychol 2011;96:1258–1274.)
• Morrisey, James K., and Bonita Voiland. 2007. “Difficult Interactions with Veterinary Clients: Working in the Challenge Zone.” Veterinary Clinics of North America – Small Animal Practice 37 (1): 65–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cvsm.2006.09.009
• Burton, Christopher, Catriona Matheson, Terry Porteous, Alison M Elliott, Lisa Iversen, Helen D Robertson, and Peter Murchie. 2016. “Resilience of Primary Healthcare Professionals: A Systematic Review.” British Journal of General Practice 66 (647): e423–33. https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp16x685261.
• Morgan, Carol A, and Michael McDonald. 2007. “Ethical Dilemmas in Veterinary Medicine.” The Veterinary Clinics of North America. Small Animal Practice 37 (1): 165–79; abstract x. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cvsm.2006.09.008.
• Bartram DJ, Sinclair JMA, Baldwin OS. Interventions with potential to improve the mental health and well-being of UK veterinary surgeons. Vet Rec 2010;166:518–23.
• Hayes, Galina M., Denise F. LaLonde-Paul, Jennifer L Perret, Andrea Steele, Marina McConkey, William G. Lane, Rosalind J. Kopp, Hannah K. Stone, Andria Jones-Bitton. 2019. “Investigation of burnout syndrome and associations with job-related risk factors in veterinary technicians working in specialty teaching hospital settings: a multi-center cross-sectional study.” https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/vec.12916?af=R
• Nienhaus A, Skudlik C, Seidler A. Work-related accidents and occupational diseases in veterinarians and their staff. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 2005;78:230–8.
• Bartram, David J., and David S. Baldwin. 2010. “Veterinary Surgeons and Suicide: A Structured Review of Possible Influences on Increased Risk.” Veterinary Record 166 (13): 388–97. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.b4794.
• Kipperman, Barry S, Philip H Kass, and Mark Rishniw. 2017. “Factors That Influence Small Animal Veterinarians’ Opinions and Actions Regarding Cost of Care and Effects of Economic Limitations on Patient Care and Outcome and Professional Career Satisfaction and Burnout.” Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 250 (7): 785–94.
• Scotney RL, McLaughlin D, Keates HL. A systematic review of the effects of euthanasia and occupational stress in personnel working with animals in animal shelters, veterinary clinics, and biomedical research facilities. J Am Vet Med Assoc 2015;247:1121–30.
• Jerath, R., Crawford, M.W., Barnes, V.A. et al. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback (2015) 40: 107. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10484-015-9279-8
• Gu J, Strauss C, Bond R, Cavanagh K.How do mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction improve mental health and well-being? A systematic review and meta-analysis of mediation studies. Clin Psychol Rev. 2015 Apr;37:1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2015.01.006
• Solhaug, I., de Vibe, M., Friborg, O. et al. Long-term Mental Health Effects of Mindfulness Training: a 4-Year Follow-up Study. Mindfulness (2019) 10: 1661. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-019-01100-2
• Fjorback, L. O., Arendt, M. , Ørnbøl, E. , Fink, P. and Walach, H. (2011), Mindfulness‐Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness‐Based Cognitive Therapy – a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 124: 102-119. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0447.2011.01704.x
• Chiesa A, Serretti A. Mindfulness based cognitive therapy for psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychiatry Res. 2011 May 30;187(3):441-53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2010.08.011
• Chiesa A, Calati R, Serretti A. Does mindfulness training improve cognitive abilities? A systematic review of neuropsychological findings. Clin Psychol Rev. 2011 Apr;31(3):449-64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2010.11.003
• Blaine Ditto, Marie Eclache, Natalie Goldman, Short-term autonomic and cardiovascular effects of mindfulness body scan meditation, Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Volume 32, Issue 3, December 2006, Pages 227–234. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15324796abm3203_9
• Anderson, E and Shivakumar, G. Effects of Exercise and Physical Activity on Anxiety. Front Psychiatry. 2013; 4: 27. Published online 2013 Apr 23. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.3389%2Ffpsyt.2013.00027
• Polachek, Alicia J., and Jean E. Wallace. 2018. “The Paradox of Compassionate Work: A Mixed-Methods Study of Satisfying and Fatiguing Experiences of Animal Health Care Providers.” Anxiety, Stress and Coping 31 (2): 228–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2017.1392224
• Mastenbroek, Nicole J J M. 2017. “The Art of Staying Engaged: The Role of Personal Resources in the Mental Well-being of Young Veterinary Professionals.” Journal of Veterinary Medical Education 44 (1): 84–94. https://doi.org/10.3138/jvme.0216-041R1
• Gerber, Markus, Ingibjörg H. Jonsdottir, Magnus Lindwall, and Gunnar Ahlborg. 2014. “Physical Activity in Employees with Differing Occupational Stress and Mental Health Profiles: A Latent Profile Analysis.” Psychology of Sport and Exercise 15 (6): 649–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2014.07.012
• Walsh, Roger. 2011. “Lifestyle and Mental Health.” American Psychologist 66 (7): 579–92. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021769
• Wolf, Megan R., and Jason B. Rosenstock. 2017. “Inadequate Sleep and Exercise Associated with Burnout and Depression among Medical Students.” Academic Psychiatry 41 (2): 174–79. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-016-0526-y
• Alvaro, Pasquale K., Rachel M. Roberts, and Jodie K. Harris. 2013. “A Systematic Review Assessing Bidirectionality between Sleep Disturbances, Anxiety, and Depression.” Sleep 36 (7): 1059–68. https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.2810
• Swensen S, Kabcenell A, Shanafelt T. Physician-Organization Collaboration Reduces Physician Burnout and Promotes Engagement: The Mayo Clinic Experience. J Healthc Manag. 2016 Mar-Apr;61(2):105-27.
• Optimal Living Dynamics. 2019. How to stimulate your vagus nerve for better mental health. Available at: https://www.optimallivingdynamics.com/blog/how-to-stimulate-your-vagus-nerve-for-better-mental-health-brain-vns-ways-treatment-activate-natural-foods-depression-anxiety-stress-heart-rate-variability-yoga-massage-vagal-tone-dysfunction