The Concept of Culture of Care: Internal Program Communication

By now we have all heard about Culture of Care in relation to the use of laboratory animals, but do we all have the same understanding of what it is?—not very likely, and this is probably good as “one size fits all” does not sit well when we are talking about culture. However, it is important to have a common understanding of some key features of Culture of Care, and this chapter on Culture of Care will take you through some selected key features and also outline a frame for roles and responsibilities. Does Culture of Care have a place in relation to management of animal care and use programs? The authors of this chapter strongly believe that it has! Our culture—what we think, what we say and what we do—is such a strong enabler of putting the written word into action. Your strategy, vision, policies and SOPs may look excellent on paper, but if the culture in the user establishment does not accept and adopt the good intentions in these documents, the likelihood of not succeeding will be high. Working with Culture of Care can be a challenging task, as the concept of culture is much more elusive and fuzzy than the topics we typically deal with in the biomedical field, using live animals. Consequently, we have tried to structure this chapter by addressing relevant topics as Q&As, and we have included some hints on where and how to get started. This chapter is therefore not a chapter that needs to be read front to back. Instead, you can pick and choose topics for inspiration, depending on your current needs or interest.