Current Practices in Veterinary Social Work: A Survey Review from Professionals Supporting the Human-Animal Bond Will: Room B
Information
Recorded
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Location
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Cleveland State University Student Center
2121 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44115
Learning Objectives
Participants will be able to:
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Describe the nature of Veterinary Social Work.
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Identify the social work competencies needed to perform veterinary social work.
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Explain the moral burden borne by VSWs.
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Summarize how infrastructure can help VSWs to manage stress.
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Describe 2 ways educators can best prepare students to work in VSW spaces.
Educational Goal
The educational goal of this workshop is to increase knowledge about the current state of the field of VSW from the perspective of VSWs and to engage in dialogue about the next steps for VSW education and practice.
Description
With the field being new and the work of most Veterinary Social Workers siloed in their organizations, there is a great need to “compare notes” and understand norms, goals, workload, and strategy. This session reviews findings from a series of in-depth surveys taken by VSWs in North America. These “Current Practice” surveys aimed to gather data to create a snapshot in time of where our profession stands. The Social Work team at MedVet, the nation’s largest veterinarian owned and led ER/Specialty organization, partnered with the Cleveland State University, the University of Pittsburgh, and International Association of Veterinary Social Work to create, administer, and analyze these surveys. This effort was modeled after the field of human healthcare experience and the work of the Beryl Institute.
Target Audience
- Counselor
- Marriage & Family Therapist
- Social Worker
- Veterinarian
Presenters
Laurie combines 20 years of animal welfare, advocacy, and veterinary experience with an MSW from The University of Chicago to create an expertise of issues facing animals and the people who love them. Laurie is the Director of Social Work at MedVet, which provides leading emergency and specialty healthcare for pets with 40+ locations across the country. In her role, Laurie works to build programs that attend to the intersection of veterinary care and social work including direct short-term interventions for pet owners in distress and compassion fatigue prevention for team members. Laurie came to MedVet from PAWS Chicago, the area’s largest spay/neuter clinic and no-kill shelter, where she created and ran community outreach programs that brought veterinary care to under-resourced neighborhoods. These programs served over 22,000 pets from 2015 – 2021. One of the programs – a job training program focused on creating workforce opportunities in the veterinary industry for community residents – won the Multicultural Veterinary Medicine Association’s Commitment to Change Award in 2021. Prior to PAWS, Laurie spent seven years at The Humane Society of the United States. There she worked on several programs, including serving as a founding team member of Pets for Life, a groundbreaking program focused on providing pet resources to owners in under-served communities nationwide. She also completed her postgraduate certificate in Veterinary Social Work from University of Tennessee in 2022. Laurie is a certified yoga instructor, community cat colony caretaker, and avid video gamer. She received her BA in Public Relations from Pennsylvania State University.
Mary E. Rauktis is Associate Faculty at the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work. She has worked with MedVet assisting with analyzing data from their VSW surveys, and assisting with outreach to shelter VSWs. She has taught for 20 years at Pitt and at other universities.
Financially Sponsored By
- International Association of Veterinary Social Work