Pets' Impact on Your Patients' Health: Leveraging Benefits and Mitigating Risk

Abstract

Over two thirds of Americans live with pets and consider them important members of the family. Pets benefit human health (zooeyia) in 4 ways: as builders of social capital, as agents of harm reduction, as motivators for healthy behavior change, and as potential participants in treatment plans. Conversely, pets can present risks to their owners. They are potential sources of zoonotic disease and injury. Pets can also challenge a family's prioritization of financial and social resources. To activate the benefits of zooeyia and appropriately calibrate and mitigate zoonotic risk, physicians first need to know about the pets in their patients' families. Asking about pets is a simple and feasible approach to assess patients' environmental history and social capital. Asking about pets is a nonthreatening way to build rapport and demonstrates an interest in the whole family, which can improve the physician-patient therapeutic alliance. Physicians can use an interprofessional, collaborative approach with veterinarians to address zoonotic health risks and leverage zooeyia. (J Am Board Fam Med 2015;28:526 -534.)

Factors associated with cessation of smoking among Swiss adults between 1991 and 2011: results from the SAPALDIA cohort

“…New dog ownership as a positive predictor of quitting was another unanticipated finding. Although there is some evidence that having a pet can motivate healthy behaviour changes [29,30], this finding would need to be confirmed by other studies. In contrast, the likelihood of quitting was lower in women and decreased with increasing number of cigarettes smoked per day, an indicator of dependency.…”

Recognizing Animals as an Important Part of Helping

“…"Zooeyia is the evidence base for the philosophical construct of the HAB" (Hodgson & Darling, 2011, p. 190) and is understood as the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual health benefits derived from interactions with companion animals. The authors identified four positive outcomes of zooeyia in practice: animals build social capital, are agents of harm reduction, facilitate behaviour change, and can be incorporated into clients' treatment plans (Hodgson, et al, 2015). Relative to social capital, Hodgson and Darling (2011) asserted that "zooeyia extends beyond the benefits to the individual [person]; companion animals also strengthen communities.…”

“…The second positive outcome of zooeyia is that companion animals can serve as agents of harm reduction for humans (Hodgson, et al, 2015). For example, the authors cited the example of tobacco as a risk factor in human health, and how concern for a companion animal's wellbeing can motivate people to choose to reduce their tobacco intake in the animal's presence (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion as cited in Hodgson, et al, 2015). They stated that "patients who engage in high-risk behavior can be adamantly unwilling to harm their pets" (p. 528).…”

Patient Education Tools: Using Pets to Empower Patients’ Self-care—A Pilot Study

“…Pets impact the health of their owners (5). The health benefits of pets (zooeyia) (6) fall into 4 categories.…”