Building resilience in animal research: a two-year mixed methods survey of organizational support programs

People who work with research animals often experience both meaning and stress from their careers. It can be rewarding to care for animals and contribute to science, yet also challenging to euthanize animals, see them in distress, and work in a stigmatized, fast-paced field. Organizations conducting animal research increasingly recognize this and are implementing programs to support employee wellness. This longitudinal project describes the implementation and evaluation of compassion fatigue resiliency programs over 2 years.

Five organizations participated in a pre-post longitudinal trial implementing institutional compassion fatigue resiliency programs. Participants were evaluated before the intervention and 2 years later with a mixed methods online survey designed to evaluate professional quality of life, job satisfaction, and retention. Quantitative data were analyzed via general linear models and qualitative data were analyzed thematically.

Fifty-two participants responded to both surveys. From baseline to year two, there were no significant changes in professional quality of life, job retention, or job satisfaction. However, participant understanding and implementation of strategies to combat compassion fatigue increased. Additionally, professional quality of life remained associated with job satisfaction and retention (p < 0.05). In free-response text, participants frequently mention animal-research related factors (62%) and organizational culture (48%) as factors that make compassion fatigue worse. Across the years, participants were more likely to mention mental health-related factors (9% at baseline to 34% at year two) and less likely to mention animal-research (54-32%) as making compassion fatigue better.

This is the first longitudinal survey assessing the impacts of organizational compassion fatigue programs on professional quality of life. Although there were no statistical differences in job satisfaction and retention across time, there continued to be a link between professional quality of life, job satisfaction, and retention. Furthermore, participants did increase understanding and implementation of strategies to combat compassion fatigue. Participants indicated that their wellness was impacted by organizational culture, animal research, and mental health factors. Considering positive qualitative feedback on our program and the link between retention and professional quality of life, our results suggest there may be workplace benefits to promoting a culture of care and supporting resiliency.