A culture of care in animal research from a psychological perspective

Use of animals in research has contributed to advancing basic science and the development of treatment for human diseases. UK animal research, legally regulated via Animals Scientific Procedures Acts (ASPA) , requires animal units to demonstrate a Culture of Care which ensures the humane care of laboratory animals. To ensure legal compliance with legislation and policy (e.g. ASPA; Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body) bodies are tasked to ’champion a culture of care’ as a means of implementing the 3Rs. Such a culture starts with people, assuring training and sensitivity to animals, is integral to good research, and a scaffold for the 3Rs implementation. In the UK, 3Rs awareness amongst researchers/carers has improved, with most recognising poor care. However, it is often only with failure (evidenced by high-profile cases) the cost to animal welfare, validity of data, and staff well-being and retention are highlighted. Failures, or risk thereof, occur at multiple levels; e.g., inappropriate training/hiring, poor communication processes, and lack of transparent/supportive environments to raise concerns.

Recent work has created psychometric assessments of a culture for animal care (Oxtoby et al., 2017). These assessments are focussed on organisational elements: (1) organisational safety systems and behaviours, (2) staff perceptions of management, (3) risk perceptions and (4) teamwork and communication. Therefore, the focus of the aforementioned work is on interpersonal elements of care; in terms of the respondents’ assessment of their relationship with the organisation, managers, and the people they work with. However, if we are to address staff well-being, and consider personal failures, or risk thereof, which may occur at multiple levels, we need to examine how the culture of care functions intrapersonally. Currently there is no animal welfare tool that considers the welfare of animals within an organisational culture of care setting from the perspective of the carer role focussing on intrapersonal aspects of the carer role. We propose two frameworks to develop a measure of an Intrapersonal Safety Culture Inventory (I-SCI) that draws on (i) the ‘care role’ within the organisation, and (ii) empowering and resilient well-being of individuals within the organisation.

The first area is based on the care role among humans (e.g. Elwick, et al., 2010). Caring can have both positive and negative outcomes; however a lack of positive impact on a carer’s experience (such as low satisfaction in caring) can have a negative impact on the individual. Not only can fulfilling a care role can have a damaging effect on health and mental health, it can signal a potential collapse in the caring relationship between the carer and those cared for. This has parallels in animal research. For example, the deterioration of the care role then not only threatens staff well-being and retention but also presents a risk the welfare of the animal. Consequently, we suggest, based on carer experience among humans, an intrapersonal culture of care in animal research would encompass factor such as individuals support for caring, choices in caring, caring stress, sense of value, ability to care, and carer satisfaction. The second area relates to empowerment and resilience in caring for animals through eudaimonic well-being. Eudaimonic well-being is the longer-term engagement with life challenges through variables such as autonomy (regulates one’s own behaviour), environmental mastery (competence in one’s environment), and purpose in life (sense of directedness) (Ryff, 2014). It is these aspects of well-being that are seen to empower the individuals, enabling them to be resilient to stress and disturbance across the life span. We suggest that in the context of animal research, which has a number of stresses for the carer (e.g. death of animals; error in terms of care), those who are empowered or resilient due to higher levels of eudaimonic well-being are more likely to deal more effectively with the risks associated with working in animal research.

The proposed PhD will synthesise existing theoretical perspectives on caring and well-being and develop this knowledge and application by developing an Intrapersonal Safety Culture Inventory that can be used in animal research. We will use psychometric approaches, across several studies, to develop a reliable and valid tool that can be used to promote a culture of care in animal research and identify and support staff and animals that might be at risk.