New Foundation Established to Stem Rising Incidence of Suicide in Veterinarians

WILMINGTON, Del., June 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Veterinary Hope Foundation (VHF), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded by a group of concerned veterinarians, launches today. The foundation's mission is to provide early suicide prevention, education and connection programs specifically tailored to address the mental health needs of the animal care community. It was established as a response to the startling high suicide rates among veterinarians. Veterinarians are about three times more likely than the general population to die by suicide. VHF will aim to increase awareness of this issue while providing veterinarians with the preventive support and tools they need to navigate the stressors unique to their profession.

Governed by an accomplished board of veterinarians and advised by mental health experts, VHF will offer support in the form of multiple interactive support groups for veterinarians, each led by mental health professionals. Groups will focus on issues meaningful to practicing veterinarians such as communicating with distraught clients, balancing family and work, handling grief and building emotional stamina.

These interactive support groups will cover relevant topics for practicing veterinarians, including client communication techniques, tips for creating work-life balance, and tools for coping with grief and anxiety.

"The Veterinary Hope Foundation started with the belief that despite the heartache and pain that many veterinarians currently feel, there is hope," said Blair McConnel, veterinarian and co-founder, the Veterinary Hope Foundation. "To truly stem the incidence of suicide in veterinarians, people need to first know that it's a problem. We're proud to be driving that awareness and providing much needed support to an industry in crisis." 

Initial funding for VHF will come from individual donors. Industry partners are also being brought in to sponsor programming at various tiers. Funding-dependent, VHF hopes to support 1,000 veterinarians with its programming during its first year.

To help increase awareness of the issue and encourage donations, the foundation has also launched a social campaign, Share Vet Love, which encourages pet owners, animal lovers and humans of all kinds to share content featuring animals expressing gratitude for the veterinarians who care for them. Content can be created and shared through a number of channels using the hashtag #ShareVetLove. The foundation has also created a unique content generation tool to encourage and enable the creation of sharable content.

You can learn more about the foundation, its mission, and the Share Vet Love campaign by visiting VeterinaryHope.org.

About the Veterinary Hope Foundation
Founded in May 2021, the Veterinary Hope Foundation (VHF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused on early prevention, education and connection programs tailored for the animal care community. Built on the belief that there's hope for veterinarians in crisis, VHF provides veterinarians with the preventive tools and support they need to navigate the common stressors unique to their profession. With veterinarians about three times more likely than the general population to die by suicide, VHF aims to generate broad awareness of the issue and generate lasting change through its public Share Vet Love awareness campaign. Governed by a board of directors and advisory panel composed of mental health experts, practicing veterinarians and animal lovers, VHF is uniquely positioned to impact the future of the veterinarian profession. To learn more about VHF, please visit VeterinaryHope.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

SOURCE Veterinary Hope Foundation

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