David Main is a vet and professor of production animal health and welfare at the Royal Agricultural University, England.

His research interests lie in welfare education, the science and practice of knowledge exchange, animal welfare assessment and improvement strategies.

Like many, he began his veterinary career expecting to improve animal health and welfare by sharing his technical knowledge and expertise with clients. Soon recognising that this was not the most effective approach to take, he became increasingly interested in learning more about communication style in medical and veterinary interactions.

In this episode, we discuss:

how communication style will influence the uptake of veterinary advice,

using a 'what would a friend say?' approach in conversations dealing with difficult topics, such as terminal illness, to better connect with clients,

how use of positive language in programmes that aim to improve animal welfare, such as Health Feet, achieves better engagement with farmers.

Listen in to hear David's thoughts on communication, cows and coffee!

Links from the episode:

BMJ article 'Communication in difficult situations: what would a friend say?' https://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f5037.full

Healthy Feet Programme https://ahdb.org.uk/healthy-feet