The Cutting Edge - Article 15 - Improving farmer satisfaction and willingness to comply to recommendations

Operators To OWNERS

Factors associated with dairy farmers’ satisfaction and preparedness to adopt recommendations after veterinary herd health visits

Full Article Link: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(19)30225-5/fulltext

Three Big Take-Away's

1. Dominating a conversation is detrimental to satisfaction, compliance and overall herd health. Vets should instead focus on balancing client communication volume, client education and veterinary consulting to create an atmosphere of mutual input and aligned goals.
2. A paternalistic approach, ie authoritative, is not desirable but instead vets should try to involve the farmer is all decision making processes and thus make sure these decisions align with their end goal. This discussion should include a clear and transparent picture of the costs associated with required veterinary services, possibility of financial impact from the disease or herd wide problem as well as the costs of any products to be purchased or utilized to resolve the problem.
3. Finally, veterinary consulting could benefit from increased use of communication via more team or consulting meetings.

Published by Caroline Ritter, Cindy L. Adams, David F. Kelton, Herman W. Barkema

Objective: Assess dairy farmers satisfaction with veterinary advisors and their perceived preparedness to adopt veterinary advice. This was to be done by looking at the effect of specific predictive variables on satisfaction and preparedness for compliance.

Location: Calgary, Canada. University of Calgary

Methods: Audio-video recordings of 14 dairy veterinarians during 70 herd health and production management farm visits were analyzed using the Roter interaction analysis system. Demographic data, farmers' satisfaction, and farmers' preparedness to adopt advice were obtained by using questionnaires.

Outcomes: Overall, farmers were satisfied with their veterinarian's communication during farm visits and 58% of farmers felt “absolutely” prepared to follow veterinary recommendations. Based on multivariable regression analysis, farmers' satisfaction was positively associated with their level of education and the amount of talk the veterinarian dedicated to counseling the farmer. However, satisfaction was negatively association with the ratio between veterinarian talk and farmer talk. In addition to various demographic variables, farmers' preparedness to adopt veterinary advice was positively associated with their satisfaction. Other predictor variables for farmers' preparedness to follow recommendations included increased veterinary counseling and frequent herd data discussions, whereas there was a negative relationship between number of farmer questions and dominance of the veterinarian during the farm visit. Identification of factors influencing farmers' satisfaction and preparedness to adopt advice will make veterinary communication more effective and could inform training of veterinarians in communication.

Carry On OTO'ers!