Animal Welfare Act Facilities Emergency Planning

Interview Guide

Interviews and focus groups will consist of topically guided discussions designed to explore the following:

• Work demographics of participants

  • What role do you play at the facility?

  • How long have you been doing this work?

  • Have you ever been involved in an animal emergency/disaster situation?

  • What would your role be if an emergency occurred in your facility today?

  • Does your facility have a contingency plan?

  • How did you / your colleagues learn about it? (Have you simulated/practiced evacuation/shelter-in-place?)

  • Have you develop an emergency plan before?

• What do people know about the new law (Knowledge, beliefs and misconceptions)

  • Are you familiar with the new regulation? Tell me what you know about it. What is it for? What is it trying to do?

  • Why should an organization do this?

  • Is there any reason that an organization would not want to submit their plan?

  • Does the new regulation change anything for your facility? (Impose new requirements?)

  • How will your facility show that it has fulfilled the responsibilities?

• How can we help you?

  • Does the government/USDA help you comply with Animal Welfare Rules?

    • How do they help?

    • Do they do things that seem helpful, but aren’t really?

  • What do you have to do to comply with this law?

    • Explore the key components and compliance plan needs

  • How could the government help you comply with this new role?

• How can we reach you?

  • When you get information from the government about new requirements like this, how do you get it?

  • How do you get other professional information

    • Email lists, LinkedIN, Websites, Social Media

  • If no social media, explore personal social media use and seek a gateway to professional uses

  • Do you use the internet? A smart phone? An iPad? To get information like this

  • Can you show me where you would look on the internet to find information about the new animal emergency regulation and how to comply?

• What else?

  • Are there things about the new law, helping you, or your being able to comply that we have not talked about but should?

  • Do you have any additional questions for me?

Usability Testing

The specifics of the usability testing will be dependent on the new tools. The testing will focus on validating that the tools are helpful to individuals who are unfamiliar with the new requirements. APHIS will seek to determine that the materials convey: why they should create an evacuation plan; how to do it; and how to update the plan. APHIS will also evaluate the usability of the tool with existing animal emergency plans. For sophisticated organizations, the tools should support cross-walk of an existing plan to the new requirements, demonstrating compliance.

Our goal in the testing is to validate that the tools

• Provide clear and understandable guidance to a range of regulated community members

• Make it clear what to do next and how to do it

• Provide value and encouragement for users to comply with the new regulation.