Our Senior Wellness Patient Care Focus is helping golden oldies

Nutmeg, a 31-year-old moggy, celebrated his birthday at VetPartners, where one of our practice teams took special care of him. He passed away peacefully a year later after living to a ripe old age.

OLDER cats and dogs need careful health management, including weight, diet and behaviour, especially because age-related disease is common in older pets.

Running a Senior Wellness Patient Care Focus gives our practice teams an opportunity to start a conversation with clients about the needs of older cats, dogs and rabbits, and how to keep their much-loved golden oldies thriving as they age.

It also gives practice teams the opportunity to educate and support clients to maintain and improve their pet’s quality of life.

We would like to support you to raise awareness among clients of age-related conditions and their symptoms, educate clients about senior pet care, uncover age-related disease, treat or manage underlying health issues and improve the pet’s quality of life.

The Senior Wellness Patient Care Focus activity, which runs from October 1^st to November 30^th (practices wishing to continue the activity through December may do so) has been designed to be flexible as practices are able to choose which elements of the activity to use to help encourage clients and patients into practice.

The objectives of the Senior Wellness Patient Care Focus are:

• To increase the overall number of pets visiting your practice for senior wellness checks and treatment.

• To encourage clients to book an appointment to have a senior wellness check for their pet.

• To highlight the products and services that are available in your practice, including RVN clinics and Pet Health Plans, providing clients with the ability to make considered choices.

• To supports the optimisation of the practice team’s experience and skillset.

Senior wellness activity gives your team the opportunity to recommend specific products, such as toys, toothpaste and toothbrushes, for senior pets, so it is important that these products are stocked and available.

All guidance and information regarding the Patient Care Focus has been sent to your practice via email via the CD/PM newsletter and directly to CDs/PMs inboxes. If you have not received the document please contact operationssupport@vetpartners.co.uk 

CPD and learning

CPD and learning materials can be found on the My VetPartners learning hub here: Senior Wellness Patient Focus - VetPartners Learning

There are 16 different elements on the learning hub to support practices in running a senior focus

For more information and support please contact cpd@vetpartners.co.uk

Resources can be found on the MyVetPartners Learning hub here: Senior Wellness Patient Focus - VetPartners Learning

Marketing support

Posters to display in client waiting areas have been developed to support the senior wellness activity in practice. Order your posters as soon as possible via Pawprint pawprintportal.co.uk. 

TV screen materials have also been produced which should be displayed during the Wellness Patient Focus from October 1^st.

A dedicated social media pack can be downloaded here: https://we.tl/t-q0ZFbgi0z5 to support in educating pet owners and directing them to the practice for further advice

For further help with your social media planning or activity to support this focus please contact dan.cole@vetpartners.co.uk or harriet.beattie@vetpartners.co.uk

Tell us your amazing stories

Your local media loves stories about the care you give to senior pets.

If you’ve got a story about an elderly cat or dog who’s thriving in their golden years, thanks to the care and treatment at your practice, please let our PR team know. Contact amanda.little@vetpartners.co.uk or jo.browne@vetpartners.co.uk

Article by Amanda Little, VetPartners PR and Communications Director.

Email amanda.little@vetpartners.co.uk