VN April 2023

Vetnuus | April 2023 2 As you know, I am extremely concerned about the mental health of our members, especially our young members. I am trying my best to get a project up and running to identify the underlying issues that need addressing to develop action plans. Gert Steyn introduced me to a lady responsible for Health Risk Assessment at Momentum Health. Part of her portfolio is monitoring healthcare workers' mental health who experience similar challenges. If all goes well, they will assist SAVA in doing some research and interventions among veterinarians. Tom Spencer also sent me an article: "Places with high religious participation have fewer deaths of despair." The American authors studied attendance at religious services. They found that states with more participation had fewer deaths of despair and that the faster religious attendance fell in a state, the more such deaths rose. Strikingly, the study found that private prayer was not linked to lower deaths of despair. This suggests that the risk reduction stems not from belief but from the interpersonal connections organised religion provides. Fascinating! But how can we build interpersonal relationships? As a novice in interpersonal relationship building, I had the privilege to attend a church service recently with the theme "Under Construction". The leader asked the following four questions, which gave me some insight: What is that one thing that breaks your heart? What breaks your heart about our profession, your practice or your working environment? For me, it is the mental health status of our young colleagues with regular reports of suicide. What action is necessary to address what has been identified by you? Action can vary pending on circumstances and personalities. The same action might have different results. It is thus important to carefully plan the action. Who is going to be on your team? Note, the question is who is going to be on your team. The action starts with you. Identify key stakeholders and involve them from the start in establishing interpersonal relationships. Who is going to lead the action? In the sermon, it was stressed that Jesus should always be the lead in congregational action. He and He alone should be the focus. In the veterinary sphere, I firmly believe that we, as veterinarians, should take the lead. Our young colleagues are the future of our profession and organisation. We should nurture them by building interpersonal relationships. Although thementorshipprogramgoes a longway in assisting young veterinarians, it is limited in building interpersonal relationships in the workplace. Our young colleagues are the future of our profession and association. We should nurture them by building interpersonal relationships. Although the mentorship program goes a long way in assisting young veterinarians, it is limited in building interpersonal relationships in the workplace. Unfortunately, we got caught up in a performance-driven era whereour events areCPDdriven. Branches primarily established for building relationships got captured by CPD activities. Established veterinarians should encourage young veterinarians to join the Young Members Group, which focuses on building relationships. As said by Irvin D. Yalom, what they will remember is the relationships we build, not necessarily what breaks our and their hearts, the initiator of the action, nor the team or the leader. Let us take action! v Kind regards, Paul van der Merwe From the President Dear members, "It's not ideas, nor vision, nor tools that truly matter in therapy. If you debrief patients at the end of therapy about the process, what do they remember? Never the ideas—it's always the relationship." - Irvin D. Yalom, The Schopenhauer Cure