CLIENTS' EXPECTATIONS AND SATISFACTION AND THE ART OF VETERINARY CARE

The art of medical care, including consideration of both patient expectations and satisfaction, is an important area in health psychology. This topic has received little systematic investigation in veterinary medicine. The goals of this study were to determine what clients expected and perceived having received in the veterinary setting, how satisfied they were, and whether they intended to comply with prescribed treatment regimens. Another goal was to see if concepts from health psychology could possibly be useful in increasing our understanding of the veterinary-client-pet interaction. To accomplish these aims, a survey was designed and given to 319 clients at three veterinary clinics.;Veterinary clients preferred to take a participatory or cooperative role in their interactions with the veterinarian, rather than either remaining passive or dominating the relationship, and these cooperative roles were reported as being experienced most often. On selected items from a study of medical patients on their perception of the practitioner-patient interaction, veterinary clients gave similar responses.;Some differences in responses from male and female owners were found, as well as from dog, cat and other pet owners.;Other results of interest included the following: Owners often did not know when to expect a physical exam for their pet and might be unaware when the pet was having one. Over a third of owners who were given home treatment regimens expected to have some degree of difficulty in carrying out the treatment regimen, although most owners intended to complete the treatment for their pet.;Clients expected veterinarians to provide good communication and rapport with both owner and pet. Satisfaction was found to be positively correlated with ratings of what clients perceived happening, with higher correlations noted in those scales dealing with the veterinarian's interactions with owners rather than pets. Satisfaction was found to be positively correlated with the congruity between expectation and perceived interaction, and satisfaction also predicted intent to comply with a treatment regimen.;Suggestions for needed further research in related areas, and ways of applying the findings of this study are offered. These include recommendations for practicing veterinarians and veterinary school programs.