New research published by the Veterinary Council of Ireland (VCI) has shed some light on the mental health and well-being of the country’s veterinary professionals.
And, one of the main findings is that 42.5% of those surveyed said they experienced abnormal levels of stress.
Published today (Monday, April 25) by the VCI – the statutory body responsible for regulating the profession – it is the first comprehensive study on the health of the veterinary professions in Ireland.
The research was conducted in collaboration with the Health Service Executive (HSE), National Office for Suicide Prevention (NOSP) and the National Suicide Research Foundation (NSRF) in April 2021.
A total of 747 registered veterinary practitioners and veterinary nurses, in both employee and managerial roles, took part in the anonymous research. This represented 18% of all vets and nurses in the country at the time of the survey.
It covered the topics of depression; anxiety; stress; burnout; deliberate self-harm; suicide; mental health knowledge; stigma; help-seeking; and sources of support.
Anxiety levels were high among respondents across all roles:
- 34.7% of participants were in the normal range for anxiety;
- 22.9% were in the borderline abnormal range;
- 42.5% in the abnormal range.
The research showed that Irish veterinary professionals are at no greater risk of suicide than the general population in Ireland, based on a comparable study carried out by Maynooth University in 2020.
However, according to the VCI, based on UK research, vets experience higher levels of anxiety and depression symptoms than the general population.
Participants were presented with a list of stress factors and asked to indicate which they are exposed to.
The most commonly selected stress factors included:
- Struggling with work-life balance (74.5%);
- Long working hours (66.4%), and out-of-hours care (38.1%);
- Salary (33.8%);
- Recruitment (31.8%) and retention (24.6%).
Engaging with activities, i.e. hobbies, exercise, spending time outdoors and having strong social support, were the main methods reported by veterinary professionals for looking after their mental health.
Veterinary nursing
Veterinary nurses indicated higher levels of psychological distress, self-harm and suicidal behaviour than other veterinary professionals.
This is related to the sex and age of the respondents also, with younger members of the professions more likely to experience anxiety than older respondents.
Management
Conversely, respondents who indicated that they work as vets in a managerial position indicated significantly better mental well-being than their colleagues on several indicators.
When asked about problems experienced over the past year:
- 56.9% of respondents reported that they had experienced problems but didn’t feel they needed professional help;
- 20.1% reported that they had experienced problems and that they had received professional help;
- 23% reported that they had few or no problems in the past year.
Suggestions made by the participants to support the mental well-being of veterinary professionals include increased access to managerial, peer and professional support from therapists or counsellors; decreased on-call hours, and increased time off when needed; mental-health awareness promotion; psychoeducation and suicide-prevention training.
In the VCI’s Corporate Strategy 2019-2023, the mental health and well-being of veterinary professionals was one of the main challenges cited for the veterinary professions.
Since then, the VCI has launched the SafeVet Smart Handbook in an effort to raise awareness and support well-being and resilience in the veterinary professions.
It has also developed a webinar on mental health and well-being, which will carry continuing professional development credits, which will be shared with all vets and veterinary nurses.
In conjunction with the NOSP, the VCI is also working to make available to every veterinary practice premises in Ireland, a specialist training programme for veterinary professionals, to raise awareness of mental-health risk factors and support Irish vets and vet nurses in their mental health.
The VCI also makes a financial contribution to the Veterinary Benevolent Fund annually, to support the health supports and initiatives offered by the Irish Veterinary Benevolent Fund.
President of the VCI, Vivienne Duggan, said:
“Mental health in the veterinary professions is an often overlooked topic. The fact of the matter is that vets and vet nurses face a variety of stress factors in their day to day work including long hours and complex cases.
“By conducting this research, the VCI hopes to gain deeper insight into the factors affecting the mental health of Ireland’s veterinary professionals. This report and its findings will help to inform and guide our actions in the future, and we hope it will be a valuable resource for the wider industry.”