Animal Care Education
Estrutura de caso

Case structure

A template to document a case following the ACE methodology: context, problems, hypotheses, investigation, decisions, alternatives, outcome and reflection.

Fill in only with authorised, anonymised data. Remove identifiers of owners, professionals and services from text, images and attachments. This template contains no completed cases.

Case context

  1. Species, sex, age, size and body condition (no animal or owner name)

  2. Environment, husbandry, relevant history and real constraints (time, resources, access to tests)

  3. Use authorisation and anonymisation confirmed

    • Authorisation recorded
    • Identifiers removed from text
    • Identifiers removed from images and attachments

Problems

  1. List of observed problems, separating facts from interpretations

Hypotheses

  1. Plausible hypotheses and what each would require to confirm or rule out

Investigation

  1. Tests, further information and sources consulted (with reference)

  2. Cost, risk and time of each investigation step

Reasoned decisions

  1. Chosen course of action and justification, with the supporting evidence

  2. Uncertainties accepted

Alternatives

  1. Other defensible courses of action and the conditions under which they would be preferable

Outcome

  1. Observed course and time frame

  2. Does the outcome confirm the decision or merely coincide with it?

    ConfirmsCoincidesContradictsInconclusive

Reflection on practice

  1. What you would do differently and what needs scientific updating

Quando parar e pedir ajuda

  • Do not publish the case without technical review by an identified professional.
  • Stop recording if personal data lacks a legal basis.