How do accessible veterinary care providers evaluate programmes and engage communities? Results of a qualitative analysis of Canadian service providers

Background A growing number of organisations are working to address barriers to accessing veterinary care. There is limited knowledge about how such programmes develop, evolve over time to meet community needs, and how clients and communities are engaged in programme design or evaluation of impacts. Without community‐engaged evaluation, programmes cannot determine the effectiveness, potential harms or broader impacts of their services. Methods Three focus groups and four interviews were conducted with a total of 18 accessible veterinary care providers in Canada. Transcripts were qualitatively analysed using a priori and emergent double content coding in NVivo 14. Results Thirty‐three subcodes were identified across five code categories: (1) programme initiation, (2) programme evolution, (3) evaluating success, (4) ideal programme evaluation, and (5) community engagement. Participant's organisations showed large diversity in programme initiation, evolution, evaluation and community participation, reflecting the complexity of access to care and presenting an opportunity for inter‐organisational knowledge sharing. Concerns about ethical community engagement, funder reporting requirements, and limited knowledge and resources hinder animal healthcare organisations’ ability to effectively engage in community‐based evaluation. Limitations Potential limitations of this study include small sample size, self‐selection bias, limited geographical representation, and power dynamics which can influence responses within interviews and focus groups. Conclusion This study contributes to the limited literature on the development and evaluation of accessible animal healthcare care programmes in a Canadian context, and from service providers’ perspectives.