Animal Depopulation Resiliency Check-in Tool

Recorded On: 07/13/2023

Summary: Animal depopulation is associated with distressing psychological impacts on people. These impacts affect many stakeholders including veterinarians, producers, public health officials, and others who make decisions about and carry out depopulation. The Animal Depopulation Resiliency Check-in Tool (ADRCT) is a five-question public health protocol for stakeholders who are preparing for, participating in, and recovering from animal depopulation.

ADRCT questions have been developed in veterinary clinical environments over the last 20 years. Over the last 3 years, through USDA APHIS National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program funding awarded to the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, the tool has been reviewed by experts in human traumatology and data collected from depopulation stakeholders. This webinar will review the tool including how to use it and preliminary feedback about the tool gathered thus far.

Intended Audience: Veterinarians, physicians, nurses, Extension staff, agricultural safety, and health professionals, farm managers, farm workers, and anyone else who may be involved with a depopulation event in their community.

Objectives: At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to…

Understand the prevalence of trauma-related symptoms after potentially traumatic events
Describe the human stressors of animal depopulation
Know the five questions in the Animal Depopulation Resiliency Check-in Tool
Be able to apply the Animal Depopulation Resiliency Check-in Tool safely
Understand the resiliency flexibility sequence

Elizabeth B. Strand, Ph.D., LCSW

Clinical Associate Professor and Founding Director

Center for Veterinary Social Work

Elizabeth B. Strand, Ph.D., LCSW is the All Creatures Great and Small Endowed Clinical Associate Professor and Founding Director of the Center for Veterinary Social Work (CVSW) at the University of Tennessee Colleges of Veterinary Medicine and Social Work. Dr. Strand is a licensed clinical social worker, Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) practitioner, a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher, a conflict resolution and peacebuilding course instructor, and a student and practitioner of Interpersonal Neurobiology. Dr. Strand has a special interest in adaptive, transdisciplinary, and participatory (APT) research methodologies as they apply to collaborative responses to wicked problems- especially in the food system. Her convergent research efforts have focused on: a) the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) policy impacts on producers’ experiences and behavior with antimicrobials in dairy cattle, b) a USDA IDEAS-funded grant dedicated to building public trust in the dairy industry c) protecting the human psychological impact of mass depopulation of swine and other animals, d) co-creating a digital peer-based suicide prevention program in the veterinary community, and e) a multiyear mental health and wellbeing benchmarking research study in the veterinary field. Her three-fold professional mission is to: 1) support the humane treatment of people and animals, 2) attend to mindfulness in all settings and situations, and 3) make every step one-directed towards building individual and collective peace.