Quality of life: what is it, and what can vets do to influence it?

2018 ◽  
Vol 182 (5) ◽  
pp. 148.1-148
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Discussion Forum

Every veterinary professional dedicates their career to ensuring the health and welfare of animals committed to their care. But what does this mean for the modern vet? This question, explains Erika Singh, Animal Welfare Foundation (AWF) Manager, will be explored at this year’s AWF Discussion Forum.

Application of psychometrics to assess quality of life in animals.

2021 ◽  
pp. 125-140
Author(s):  
Jacky Reid ◽  
Andrea Nolan ◽  
Marian Scott
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Worth Living ◽  
Health Related Quality ◽  
Medical Sciences ◽  
Life Worth Living ◽  
Related Quality ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Assess Quality

Abstract Animal welfare research is gradually moving towards inclusion of positive welfare, with the consideration of how animals can be provided a good life or a life worth living. The concept of quality of life, which originates from human medical sciences, definitely contributes to this. In this chapter the developers of the health-related quality of life tool for dogs share their expertise.

scholarly journals Too Cute to Kill? The Need for Objective Measurements of Quality of Life

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 1054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Wolfensohn
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Animal Suffering ◽  
Welfare Assessment ◽  
Ecological Conservation ◽  
Understanding Of Science ◽  
Social Environmental

The recognition of animal suffering is influenced by cultural and societal prejudices and the cuteness of an animal leads to bias in the way it is treated. It is important to consider the animal’s behaviour and its environment—not just its physical condition—when assessing its quality of life. The Animal Welfare Assessment Grid (AWAG) is a useful tool for this purpose. The AWAG offers an evidence-based tool for continual welfare assessment, using technology where appropriate, such as digital activity recording, to facilitate decision-making and lead to improvements in the animals’ quality of life. It is highly adaptable to any species by assessing the four parameters of physical health, psychological wellbeing, environmental quality, and clinical and management procedural events. The outcome of assessing welfare should be action to improve it. Societal ethics and policy-making lead to legislation balancing the values we hold for different species. Influencing policy development in such matters as animal welfare, ecological conservation, and risks to humans requires a focus on public attitudes to, and understanding of, science, as well as consideration of potential unforeseen consequences of the social/environmental/economic impacts of policies.

scholarly journals Assessment of the Welfare of Experimental Cattle and Pigs Using the Animal Welfare Assessment Grid

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 999
Author(s):  
Molly Ryan ◽  
Ryan Waters ◽  
Sarah Wolfensohn
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Physical Condition ◽  
Retrospective Data ◽  
End Points ◽  
Welfare Assessment ◽  
Future Data ◽  
Animal Welfare Assessment

The Animal Welfare Assessment Grid (AWAG) is a method for assessing quality of life, originally designed for experimental primates. This study adapts the AWAG for use in cattle and pigs, by adapting the factors included for these species and including data which had been collected previously as the standard approach to monitoring these species in research. The intention is that the results presented here will allow the future data collected for experimental cattle and pigs to be optimised for inclusion in an AWAG. Data were collected from two vaccine assessment studies at the Pirbright Institute. Factors were scored for every recorded event using retrospective data and CCTV clips. There was a lack of behavioural data recorded in both studies, which limited the accuracy of assessing each animal’s welfare. This paper emphasises the importance of including behavioural information when assessing welfare and not simply relying on assessment of physical condition. Scores peaked following an exponential rise as animals reached set humane end points. This demonstrated the potential of using the AWAG to aid the decision-making of when euthanasia should be performed. Our study shows the AWAG to be a useful tool for assessing welfare, which can be used in harm:benefit assessment.

scholarly journals Animal welfare and environmental enrichment in the domestic breeding and ornamental rearing of geese and mallards

2021 ◽  
pp. 107-125
Author(s):  
Luiza Isaia de Freitas
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Bird Breeding ◽  
In Captivity ◽  
Social Environmental ◽  
The Right

The concept of animal welfare has been widely studied and discussed in recent years. This is a science, which seeks an improvement in the quality of life of animals, ensuring that they have the right to their 5 basic freedoms respected. Animal welfare practices seek to have animals express their natural behavior, even when they are in captivity, ensuring their physical and psychological health. Such techniques help in the adaptation of the animal to the environment, especially in captive animals and in breeding. There is a direct relationship between the implementation of animal welfare practices and the ability of them to adapt and have a good quality of life in the environment in which it was inserted. The growing increase in ornamental bird breeding and as pets has revealed the need to study and ensure welfare practices in the rearing of these animals. One of the techniques used to ensure animal welfare is the implementation of different types of environmental enrichments. Environmental enrichment seeks through different techniques and materials to provide more attractive and stimulating environments to animals, allowing interaction between animals and animal-environment, enabling them to enjoy and explore the environment, optimizing the available spaces, providing opportunities for the development of behaviors and natural abilities of the species, reducing the stress caused by space limitation and absence of stimuli. The objective of this work was to relate animal welfare in the implementation of environmental enrichment in two breeding stake of geese and mallards, one for ornamental and domestic purposes, birds being reared as pets. In particular describe the creation, report the implementation of three types of environmental enrichment: food, physical and social, and response of birds after the implementation of this technique of animal welfare promotion. The results of the implementation of food, physical and social environmental enrichment, to improve the well-being of birds, were verified in both breedings, obtaining a positive result. There was an improvement in the behavior of the animals, which is closer to the natural in both groups, attesting to improvement in quality of life and providing physical and psychological well-being to birds.

scholarly journals Assessing biomarkers of ageing as measures of cumulative animal welfare

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Bradshaw
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Alternative Measure ◽  
Promising Alternative ◽  
Biological Ageing ◽  
Nonhuman Animals ◽  
Ideal Measure ◽  
The Ideal

In order to determine which conditions provide the best overall quality of life for nonhuman animals, it is important to be able to measure their cumulative welfare experience. The ideal measure of cumulative welfare would be comprehensive, objectively measurable, and easy to transfer across species; however, existing approaches fall far short of this ideal. Recent academic work has suggested that measures of biological ageing could provide a highly promising alternative measure of cumulative welfare, which comes much closer to meeting these ideal goals. Here, I review the existing empirical support for the use of biomarkers of ageing as a measure of cumulative welfare, discuss the prerequisites of applying the method, and explore a number of important caveats that may limit its applicability. Overall, despite some important potential weaknesses, biomarkers of ageing are likely to represent an important step forward in the assessment of cumulative animal welfare, which could potentially help resolve some important long-running uncertainties and disputes in the animal-welfare movement.

Self-Compassion and Quality of Life in Adults Who Stutter

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 2097-2108
Author(s):  
Robyn L. Croft ◽  
Courtney T. Byrd
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Social Connectedness ◽  
The Self ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Self Compassion ◽  
Adults Who Stutter ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this study was to identify levels of self-compassion in adults who do and do not stutter and to determine whether self-compassion predicts the impact of stuttering on quality of life in adults who stutter. Method Participants included 140 adults who do and do not stutter matched for age and gender. All participants completed the Self-Compassion Scale. Adults who stutter also completed the Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering. Data were analyzed for self-compassion differences between and within adults who do and do not stutter and to predict self-compassion on quality of life in adults who stutter. Results Adults who do and do not stutter exhibited no significant differences in total self-compassion, regardless of participant gender. A simple linear regression of the total self-compassion score and total Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering score showed a significant, negative linear relationship of self-compassion predicting the impact of stuttering on quality of life. Conclusions Data suggest that higher levels of self-kindness, mindfulness, and social connectedness (i.e., self-compassion) are related to reduced negative reactions to stuttering, an increased participation in daily communication situations, and an improved overall quality of life. Future research should replicate current findings and identify moderators of the self-compassion–quality of life relationship.

Misophonia: An Evidence-Based Case Report

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 685-690
Author(s):  
C. S. Vanaja ◽  
Miriam Soni Abigail
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Case Report ◽  
Case History ◽  
Pure Tone ◽  
Physiological Responses ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Management Option ◽  
Pure Tone Audiogram

Purpose Misophonia is a sound tolerance disorder condition in certain sounds that trigger intense emotional or physiological responses. While some persons may experience misophonia, a few patients suffer from misophonia. However, there is a dearth of literature on audiological assessment and management of persons with misophonia. The purpose of this report is to discuss the assessment of misophonia and highlight the management option that helped a patient with misophonia. Method A case study of a 26-year-old woman with the complaint of decreased tolerance to specific sounds affecting quality of life is reported. Audiological assessment differentiated misophonia from hyperacusis. Management included retraining counseling as well as desensitization and habituation therapy based on the principles described by P. J. Jastreboff and Jastreboff (2014). A misophonia questionnaire was administered at regular intervals to monitor the effectiveness of therapy. Results A detailed case history and audiological evaluations including pure-tone audiogram and Johnson Hyperacusis Index revealed the presence of misophonia. The patient benefitted from intervention, and the scores of the misophonia questionnaire indicated a decrease in the severity of the problem. Conclusions It is important to differentially diagnose misophonia and hyperacusis in persons with sound tolerance disorders. Retraining counseling as well as desensitization and habituation therapy can help patients who suffer from misophonia.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document