Contextualised care resources
Contextualised care encompasses more than affordable treatment. It factors in the owner and patient, addressing their individual circumstances, relationship, and wider influences. Alongside animal welfare it also recognises the veterinary team’s and the owner’s values, resources and dedication, together with wider influences such as legislation, professional requirements, societal influences and other influences on treatment outcomes.
To help guide you on this topic, we've collated a number of useful resources:
- RCVS Knowledge: contextualised care (this resource includes a variety of further references)
- RCVS Knowledge: maximising welfare benefits by contextualising case management (scenario)
- RCVS Knowledge: contextualised care guides
- Vet help direct: is “gold standard” always the best option for veterinary care?
Other literature
- Vet Record: ‘Gold standard care’ is an unhelpful term - Alison Skipper, Carol Gray, Ruth Serlin, Dan O'Neill, Clive Elwood, Jane Davidson, 2021
- Vet Record: Owners of dogs with canine cognitive dysfunction report higher levels of caregiver burden - Zoe Belshaw, 2024
- Vet Record: Contextualised care: faddish or foundational? - Alison Skipper, Dan O'Neill, Ruth Serlin, Jane Davidson, Clive Elwood, Carol Gray, 2024
- College of vets of Ontario - articles on contextualised care
- Shared decision making: a model for clinical practice - Elwyn et al, 2021
- Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association: Spectrum of care: more than treatment options - Brown et al, 2021
- The history and fate of the gold standard - Jones and Podolsky, 2015
- Cat and dog owners’ expectations and attitudes towards advanced veterinary care (AVC) in the UK, Austria and Denmark - Cor et al, 2024
- BSAVA Companion: Contextualised care (Part 1) - Futter & Allen, 2024
- BSAVA Companion: Contextualised care (Part 2) - Futter & Allen, 2024
Client resource
The value of veterinary care
Our value of veterinary care resources are aimed at current and potential pet owners to help explain:
- The cost of veterinary bills
- Things that can help minimise pet care costs
- The role of pet insurance
BVA members often hand them out to their clients or have them posted on the wall of their waiting rooms.