Research symposiums

Agenda & abstracts

Download the agenda & abstracts here.

Report

On 10 October 2023 the fourth Mind Matters Research Symposium was held at The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. You can read a report of the day in this publication.

Videos from the day

Welcome

• Welcome (Dr Kate Richards, Mind Matters Initiative Chair)

Plenary session

• Plenary – Evidence-based care for people who have self-harmed: risk predication, psychosocial assessments, and aftercare (Dr Leah Quinlivan)

The Sarah Brown Mental Health Research Grant

The Sarah Brown Mental Health Research Grant was founded in 2019, in memory of RCVS Council member Sarah Brown who passed away in 2017. A total of six £20,000 grants have been awarded by MMI since 2019, to help advance research into mental health within the veterinary professions.

1. The Sarah Brown Mental Health Research Grant – background and presentation of the 2023 grant (Lizzie Lockett)
2. RG1. “How Farm Vets Cope”: A summary of the project funded by the Sarah Brown Mental Health Research Grant (Year 1), including ‘take home’ messages and post-project activity (Dr Kate Lamont)
3. RG2. Experiences and impact of moral injury on UK veterinary professional wellbeing (Dr Victoria Williamson)
4. RG3. Solutions that could make a difference to the impact of racism on Black and Minority Ethnic People working and studying in the UK veterinary profession (Dr Navaratnam Partheeban)
5. RG4. Autistic veterinary surgeons in the United Kingdom: workplace stressors and mental wellbeing (Dr Kirstie Pickles)
6. RG5. An online compassionate imagery intervention to improve psychological wellbeing for veterinarians: A randomised control trial (Dr Katherine Wakelin)

Research talks

1. Euthanasia of animals – Association with veterinarians’ suicidal thoughts and attitudes to assisted dying in humans: A nationwide cross-sectional survey (the NORVET study) (Helene Seljenes Dalum)
2. How veterinary professionals are affected by companion animal euthanasia (Hannah Poulton)
3. Reducing moral stress through ethical discussion in charity veterinary hospitals (Dr Vanessa Ashall)
4. The Vet Stressor Study: Examining the relationship between workplace stressors and career stage (Dr Rebecca Smith)
5. Is the quality and provision of mental health support in higher education sufficient in preparing student veterinary nurses for the profession? (Kaitlin Murray)
6. Final year student veterinary nurses’ future career plans: values, beliefs and anxieties (Suzannah Harniman)
7. How the COVID-19 pandemic shaped the veterinary mental well-being in Europe (Nancy De Briyne)

Mind Matters Initiative talk

• The Mind Matters Initiative (Angharad Belcher)

Closing remarks

• Closing remarks (Dr Kate Richards)

Agenda & abstracts

Download the agenda & abstracts here.

Report

On 24 November 2021 the  third Mind Matters Research Symposium was held online. You can read a report of the day in this publication.
 

Videos from the day

Plenary session

• Plenary – When it is darkest: understanding suicide risk (Professor Rory O’Connor)

Sarah Brown Mental Health Research Grant

The Sarah Brown Mental Health Research Grant was founded in 2019, in memory of RCVS Council member Sarah Brown who passed away in 2017.

• Sarah Brown Research Grant Talk: How farm vets cope (Dr Kate Stephen)
• Sarah Brown Research Grant Talk: Experiences of Racism (Dr Victoria Crossley and Dr Navaratnam Partheeban)

Stream A

1. Cyberbullying and mental well-being of veterinarians in Hong Kong: an exploratory qualitative study (Camille Chan)
2. Veterinary intern & resident wellbeing: we need change, STAT! (Mackenzie Peterson)
3. Understanding and supporting veterinary mental health (Dr Nadine Hamilton)
4. The relationship between patient safety culture and staff burnout. Conundrum or cure? (Mark Turner)
5. Mindset, resilience and perception of/reaction to workplace challenge in RVNs (Charlotte Bullard)
6. An explanatory research on satisfaction in the Dutch veterinary practice (Kris van den Bogaard)

Stream B

1. Integrated mental health awareness teaching in the veterinary undergraduate curriculum (Brad Hill)
2. Perception and impact of online mental health awareness teaching in year 1 during the pandemic (Dr Sabine Totemeyer)
3. The effects of an exercise programme on the mental wellbeing of veterinary students (Fergus Mitchell)
4. Students’ perceptions of using two mental health apps during the Covid-19 pandemic (Kirstie Pickles)
5. Using a co-created interactive game to engage students with mental health awareness (Georgina Bladon)
6. Emotional intelligence and its relationship with work engagement amongst veterinary surgeons in UK veterinary practice (Dr Sharon Cooksey)

Stream C

1. Do registered veterinary nurses feel stigmatised by acknowledging stress and accessing support? (Anna Garrity)
2. The veterinary triad in balint work: about professional relationships to pets and their owners (Dr Veerle Van Geenhoven)
3. Work engagement and its link to retention in UK practising veterinary surgeons (Dr Sharon Cooksey)

Agenda & abstracts

Download the agenda & abstracts here.

Report

On 24 September 2019 we held our second veterinary mental health research symposium, ‘Veterinary mental health: the evidence base’, at Church House in London. You can read a report of the day in this publication.

Videos from the day

Plenary sessions

1. Plenary 1: The Mind Matters Initiative – what we’ve achieved so far (Professor Stuart Reid)
2. Plenary 2 The impact of veterinarian suicide on colleagues) (Dr Alexandra Pitman)
3. Plenary 3: Sustaining resilience at work – what does the evidence tell us works? (Professor Neil Greenberg)

Stream A (morning)

1. Government Veterinarians Wellbeing – A Veterinary Profession Wellbeing Case Study (Dr Rebecca Garcia Pinillos)
2. Positive and negative mental health impacts of experiences associated with livestock veterinary practice (Dr Kate Stephen)
3. Aspects of work influence new graduate mental health: opportunities for intervention (Dr Rosie Allister)

Stream A (afternoon)

1. Suicides and Deaths of Undetermined Intent Among Veterinary Professionals, National Violent Death Reporting System, 2003-2014 (Dr Randall Nett)
2. Key Findings of the MSD Animal Health Veterinary Wellbeing Study (John Volk)
3. Mental Health of Veterinarians in Canada (Dr Colleen Best)

Stream B (morning)

1. 2018 WSAVA Mental Health Survey results. How the VetsinMind app will support the identified issues (Dr Nienke Endenburg)
2. Improving Resilience in Veterinary Students: A Final-Year Resilience Rotation (Dr Colleen Best)
3. Evaluation of Workplace Wellbeing and Culture Across the Veterinary Profession through Supported Practice Surveys (Carolyne Crowe)

Stream B (afternoon)

1. Burnout in veterinarians; a critical review of the prevalence, contributory factors and interventions (Dr Joanna Dyer)
2. The relationship between psychosocial work environment and mental health in veterinary practitioners: a scoping review (Dr Linda Hoinville)
3. How unease and stress can become confidence and harmony through non-technical competencies continuing professional development (Dr Tierney Kinnison)

Agenda & abstracts

On 20 January 2017 we held our first veterinary mental health research symposium ‘Understanding and supporting veterinary mental health’, at the University of Edinburgh. You can read about the speakers and their abstracts in this publication.

Download a PDF

Videos from the day

Plenary sessions and short talks

1. Session 1
2. Session 2
3. Session 3