Practical Issues
Service quality and respect were identified as important. For example,
poor management of uncertainty around the HeVD vaccine during a
consultation or perceived ostracism by veterinarians led to a poor
experience for both the horse owner and the attending veterinarian
(Manyweathers et al., 2020). Communication of test results and their
meaning also presented challenges. In a study of the communication of
HeV antibody titre results, veterinarians acknowledged difficulty in
communicating the results, titre cut-off value, and the relationship
between the titre value and protective immunity (Barrett et al., 2021).
Access and affordability also influenced horse-owners’ decisions about
vaccine frequency, in that the perceived high cost and need for ongoing
boosters were barriers to HeVD vaccination (Manyweathers, Field,
Longnecker, et al., 2017).