There are three separate yet interrelated products that made up this final capstone product. The completed product is focused on pet hospice veterinary support staff and the need for an evidence-based mitigation protocol to combat secondary traumatic stress.
The first product was the Systematic Literature Review (SLR). The SLR utilized a scoping review process to locate prior research or literature related to pet hospice veterinary support staff and secondary traumatic stress. No existing literature or research was found on these two topics.
The second product was a conceptual paper that introduced the creation of psychoeducational support groups for pet hospice veterinary support staff, once the occupational hazard of secondary traumatic stress was defined for this population. Psychoeducational support groups, using the andragogy within adult learning theory as a platform, provided the intervention for support within veterinary medicine.
The third and final product was the practice application paper, which outlined how to operationalize a psychoeducational support group in a pet hospice setting with support staff. This final product also explored limitations and future directions for social work practice.