Providing an information prescription in veterinary medical clinics: a pilot study

Abstract

The value placed on reliable Internet information by veterinary clients suggests several opportunities for librarians to become more proactive in partnering with veterinarians to facilitate the education of pet owners.

Interventions to assist pet owners in online health information seeking behaviour: a qualitative content analysis literature review and proposed model

“…Although the practice of guiding clients to Internet sites is widely common in veterinary services, only few studies have examined the impact of this intervention. In previous studies, the impact of two types of information prescriptions (indirect (generic) Info RX and, direct (topic specific) Info RX) has been examined on client relations and clinic success (Kogan, Schoenfeld‐Tacher, Gould, Viera, et al., ; Kogan, Schoenfeld‐Tacher, Gould, Hellyer, et al., ; Solhjoo, ). The findings of these studies clearly illustrate the positive reactions reported by pet owners when given an information prescription.…”

“…There were only three studies about pet health information interventions, of which two of them assessed outcomes of vet's information prescription using self‐report questionnaires to measure online information use, trust in online health information and self‐efficacy for information seeking. Participants were asked about the number of times they had used the information prescription to access pet health related information and what their plans were for utilising the information they found online over the previous 2 months (Kogan, Schoenfeld‐Tacher, Gould, Viera, et al., ; Kogan, Schoenfeld‐Tacher, Gould, Hellyer, et al., ). In another study about veterinarian's information prescriptions, pet owners were asked to self‐report their outcomes qualitatively by means of open questions (Solhjoo, ).…”

“… Primary outcomes: Instrumental outcomes ○Pet health information evaluation skill (gain ability to search/evaluate/appraise/apply online pet health information e.g. ability to discriminate between different quality websites) (Diviani et al., ; Lee et al., ; Solhjoo, ; Witman, ) ○Self‐efficacy for online pet health information seeking (belief in one's ability to seek online information and use Internet) (Burke et al., ; D'alessandro, Kreiter, Kinzer, & Peterson, ; Diviani et al., ; Kogan, Schoenfeld‐Tacher, Gould, Viera, et al., ; Kogan, Schoenfeld‐Tacher, Gould, Hellyer, et al., ; Lee et al., ) Communication outcomes ○Vet–client communication enhancement (increase in communication with veterinarian about online pet health information) (Chesser, Woods, Davis, & Bowers, ; Kogan, Schoenfeld‐Tacher, Gould, Viera, et al., ; Kogan, Schoenfeld‐Tacher, Gould, Hellyer, et al., ; Solhjoo, ) ○Family/friend involvement (communicate and discuss with family/friend about online pet health information) (Kogan, Schoenfeld‐Tacher, Gould, Viera, et al., ; Kogan, Schoenfeld‐Tacher, Gould, Hellyer, et al., ; Solhjoo, ) Satisfaction ○Pet owner satisfaction with the information intervention/information provided (Chesser et al., ; D'alessandro et al., ; Gavgani, Majd, Nosratnejad, Golmohammadi, & Sadeghi‐Bazargani, ; Kogan, Schoenfeld‐Tacher, Gould, Viera, et al., ; Kogan, Schoenfeld‐Tacher, Gould, Hellyer, et al., ) Secondary outcomes: Learning outcomes ○Knowledge acquisition (level of knowledge or increase in knowledge about pet health status, pet's disease, procedure or treatment) (Car et al., ; Solhjoo, ) ○Skills acquisition (changes in pet owner's health behaviour or enhance pet's lifestyle) (Car et al., ; Solhjoo, ) Health outcomes ○Pet health status and well‐being (changes in pet's physical health and biometric markers e.g.) (Lee et al., ) Economic outcomes ○Costs of pet health care (e.g.…”

“…Therefore, interventions may have included training about the use of particular websites, effective search skills, evaluation skills, applying online health information or health literacy skills (Car, Lang, Colledge, Ung, & Majeed, 2011). One of the most widely used information interventions in pet health studies is information prescription (Info Rx) as a part of veterinary services (Kogan, Schoenfeld-Tacher, Gould, Viera, et al, 2014;Kogan, Schoenfeld-Tacher, Gould, Hellyer, & Dowers, 2014;Viera, 2014). An information prescription is provided by a veterinarian or librarian who intervenes in order to evaluate the impact of information on learning goals and outcomes.…”

“…• Instrumental outcomes ○ Pet health information evaluation skill (gain ability to search/evaluate/appraise/ apply online pet health information e.g. ability to discriminate between different quality websites) (Diviani et al, 2015;Lee et al, 2014;Solhjoo, 2018;Witman, 2017) ○ Self-efficacy for online pet health information seeking (belief in one's ability to seek online information and use Internet) (Burke et al, 2010;D'alessandro, Kreiter, Kinzer, & Peterson, 2004;Diviani et al, 2015;Kogan, Schoenfeld-Tacher, Gould, Viera, et al, 2014;Lee et al, 2014) • Communication outcomes ○ Vet-client communication enhancement (increase in communication with veterinarian about online pet health information) (Chesser, Woods, Davis, & Bowers, 2012;Kogan, Schoenfeld-Tacher, Gould, Viera, et al, 2014;Solhjoo, 2018) ○ Family/friend involvement (communicate and discuss with family/friend about online pet health information) (Kogan, Schoenfeld-Tacher, Gould, Viera, et al, 2014;Solhjoo, 2018) • Satisfaction ○ Pet owner satisfaction with the information intervention/information provided (Chesser et al, 2012;D'alessandro et al, 2004;Gavgani, Majd, Nosratnejad, Golmohammadi, & Sadeghi-Bazargani, 2015;Kogan, Schoenfeld-Tacher, Gould, Viera, et al, 2014;) 2 Secondary outcomes:…”