Jan. 12, 2021
Pet Advocate/ Liaison
When we talk about human medicine, most hospitals now have designated patient advocates who serve as an invaluable liaison between a family and a healthcare provider. The concept of a veterinary medicine liaison is relatively unknown. It is a subject matter that doesn’t get covered enough in the field. I feel this is a tragedy. It is a horrific time when your beloved pet needs serious medical attention for a serious problem. This happened to me. My experience left me aghast at health care providers. I feel I was taken for a ride that lasted only as long as my naivety.
The healthcare providers follow a culture that is in the best interest of the healthcare providers profit hungry initiatives and not in the interest of the patient at all. We enabled one individual doctor to act as our primary contact. In hindsight, after our horrific experience with VSC, it became aware this is a terrible way of approaching patient care. Doctor -to- patient owner is not an effective communication channel. It would be greatly beneficial if a third party liaison, such as a Pet Liaison, or Patient Advocate Director, was also involved in the communication between doctors and patient owners to eliminate confusion.
Our “primary” doctor was only on-duty/available once in a while. Yes, only once in a while. We experienced a revolving door of doctors and staff members whom all had different levels of understanding of our pet’s condition and care path. Through the smoke and mirrors mirage of elite level health care, we have VSC, who routinely dismissed us or passed us off for asking questions. We were treated like we were bothersome for wanting to be engaged in the process. We were treated like they were the all-knowing professionals and we must respect the narrative they have set forth for our pet on that given day. I found/find myself doing countless hours of research and even having to talk to a third party vet online just to get an understanding of why the VSC doctor wants to do something or what the lab report data indicates. I wanted to empower myself to make informed decisions. However, this was all rejected with the doctors and nurse techs. It caused me to wonder if they had legit pet advocates/liaisons to support my decisions, questions, etc. After time pondering this situation and reading articles, I realized that we NEED now more than ever to have pet advocates/liaisons newly employed by health care providers.
Veterinary medicine needs to reflect on how they treat their customers/patients. They need to be called out for their clearly profit driven agendas in their process and work culture. In addition, they need to realize we are not just some case study in their textbooks but rather as the human beings we are. Human beings with emotion and love. VSC left me completely in the dark. I felt I was drowning. I seriously felt I was the only one fighting for my dog. I personally would have greatly benefited from a pet advocate/liaison to help translate doctor verbiage to the laymen. Also, to provide unconditional support for patient and family. VSC has a “zero tolerance” policy sign posted. Why is that? A pet advocate/liaison would be on site and most likely would be able to deescalate a potential harmful situation.
I went ahead and made a hypothetical job description for a pet care advocate/liaison:
· Making difficult end-of-life decisions
· Helping your family cope with your pet’s illness at home
· Helping you talk to your children about your pet’s illness or death
· Facilitating discussions or meetings with you animal’s medical team
· Directing you to communication resources, including mental health services and pet-related services.
· Being preset before, during and/or after euthanasia
· Providing educational resources about your pet’s diagnosis, treatment, or the grief/loss process
· Offer free pet loss support group
Let us all be honest when we say the numbers of bad veterinary practices are unfortunately rising. We all (should) know there needs to be significant change. Vets needs to halt the profit train and invest in hiring veterinary social workers (for example) that are certified. These pet advocates/liaisons can help guide patient families and answer the questions the doctors’ disregard. What is wrong with my pet? Who, what, are you doing and going to do? These are very basic questions that most veterinarians just cannot seem to answer nor explain. Their mind frame is compensation! Move on to the next animal. It is just a revolving door of pets for profit. Having a liaison on staff can help make an awful situation a little more tolerable. Having discussions on anticipatory loss, grief, and bereavement is needed.
Vets, hire what you really need. Someone with the education, credentials, and heart to assist and support you with processing difficult treatment and care decisions. Vets needs a liaison between you and the veterinarian team. They can afford to restructure. Lastly, vets needs to staff appropriate team members who will be there to help understand the process. This is the most important thing and we must work harder to raise awareness. You must do your best to understand your pet’s diagnosis or potential diagnosis. The medical provider SHOULD help you understand the process. They do not. Hence why we need pet advocate/liaisons.