One Health

Meeting the needs of pets and their families requires a holistic approach, as the challenges are too complex for any one sector to tackle alone. Instead, a collaborative, multi-stakeholder effort is essential to effectively address these issues. Unfortunately, problems are often approached in isolated "silos", leading to service gaps, inefficiencies, and unmet needs. A multi-disciplinary, cooperative approach would better serve the community.

According to Fernandes et al[i], five key elements are essential for effective collaboration in addressing complex societal challenges:

1. Individuals must be open to viewing problems from different perspectives.
2. Collaboration requires a willingness to compromise.
3. Adaptability is crucial as new challenges arise.
4. Organizations must remain realistic about their capabilities and responsive to public input and criticism.
5. Most importantly, trust must be built among members.

I'd love to hear about your experiences collaborating with other organizations. What benefits have you seen? What challenges have you faced in building and maintaining partnerships?

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Linda Daugherty
Associate Director
Program for Pet Health Equity
TN
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Thank you for posting this. It is such an important topic. At the Oregon Humane Society we opened a Community Veterinary Hospital in 2022 that offers discounted veterinary care. It increased access to care for pets in our community but it isn't a magic solution so that all pets have all the care they need. There are still gaps in veterinary services for pets. We are fortunate to have a Community Solutions Manager on staff that helps families apply for grants we know about and helps staff find things we can apply for and use to help clients. And still, for some clients $40 might as well be $4000 and we need partners in our community that offer free wellness and other care outside our model.
And there are other barriers to care, like transportation. We partner with a local Meals on Wheels chapter to utilize their grant funds to keep seniors and pets together. Their funds pay for vet visits and their staff and volunteers help with transportation and bridge some gaps between our staff and their population. It isn't just about their grant funds paying for the care, it is also about our team learning to work with seniors. Those are clients who could not use our services due to lack of transportation or limitations on handling a pet and who would not be able to afford even our discounted prices. 

Meeting the needs of pets and their families requires a holistic approach, as the challenges are too complex for any one sector to tackle alone. Instead, a collaborative, multi-stakeholder effort is essential to effectively address these issues. Unfortunately, problems are often approached in isolated "silos", leading to service gaps, inefficiencies, and unmet needs. A multi-disciplinary, cooperative approach would better serve the community.

According to Fernandes et al[i], five key elements are essential for effective collaboration in addressing complex societal challenges:

1. Individuals must be open to viewing problems from different perspectives.
2. Collaboration requires a willingness to compromise.
3. Adaptability is crucial as new challenges arise.
4. Organizations must remain realistic about their capabilities and responsive to public input and criticism.
5. Most importantly, trust must be built among members.

I'd love to hear about your experiences collaborating with other organizations. What benefits have you seen? What challenges have you faced in building and maintaining partnerships?

------------------------------
Linda Daugherty
Associate Director
Program for Pet Health Equity
TN
------------------------------

Kelly, thank you for sharing. I would love to hear more about the role of the Community Solutions Manager and how they have been able to build collaborations with community agencies. An animal welfare professional recently shared that trying to build collaborations between animal and human welfare agencies was like navigating the Tower of Babel. Can you share insights on how your organization has been able to bridge the gap?

Thank you for posting this. It is such an important topic. At the Oregon Humane Society we opened a Community Veterinary Hospital in 2022 that offers discounted veterinary care. It increased access to care for pets in our community but it isn't a magic solution so that all pets have all the care they need. There are still gaps in veterinary services for pets. We are fortunate to have a Community Solutions Manager on staff that helps families apply for grants we know about and helps staff find things we can apply for and use to help clients. And still, for some clients $40 might as well be $4000 and we need partners in our community that offer free wellness and other care outside our model.
And there are other barriers to care, like transportation. We partner with a local Meals on Wheels chapter to utilize their grant funds to keep seniors and pets together. Their funds pay for vet visits and their staff and volunteers help with transportation and bridge some gaps between our staff and their population. It isn't just about their grant funds paying for the care, it is also about our team learning to work with seniors. Those are clients who could not use our services due to lack of transportation or limitations on handling a pet and who would not be able to afford even our discounted prices. 

Meeting the needs of pets and their families requires a holistic approach, as the challenges are too complex for any one sector to tackle alone. Instead, a collaborative, multi-stakeholder effort is essential to effectively address these issues. Unfortunately, problems are often approached in isolated "silos", leading to service gaps, inefficiencies, and unmet needs. A multi-disciplinary, cooperative approach would better serve the community.

According to Fernandes et al[i], five key elements are essential for effective collaboration in addressing complex societal challenges:

1. Individuals must be open to viewing problems from different perspectives.
2. Collaboration requires a willingness to compromise.
3. Adaptability is crucial as new challenges arise.
4. Organizations must remain realistic about their capabilities and responsive to public input and criticism.
5. Most importantly, trust must be built among members.

I'd love to hear about your experiences collaborating with other organizations. What benefits have you seen? What challenges have you faced in building and maintaining partnerships?

------------------------------
Linda Daugherty
Associate Director
Program for Pet Health Equity
TN
------------------------------