The Occupation of Pet Ownership as an Enabler of Community Integration in Serious Mental Illness: A Single Exploratory Case Study

The power of support from companion animals for people living with mental health problems: a systematic review and narrative synthesis of the evidence

“…All study characteristics and quality indicators are detailed in Additional files 1 , 2 , 3 and 4 . Of the 17 studies, 8 were conducted in the USA [ 27 – 34 ], 4 in the UK [ 9 , 35 – 37 ], 2 in Canada [ 38 , 39 ] and 1 each in the Netherlands [ 40 ], Australia [ 41 ], and Sweden [ 42 ]. Twelve of the studies were reported in journal articles [ 9 , 27 , 30 , 32 – 35 , 38 – 42 ] and 5 were part of doctoral research [ 28 , 29 , 31 , 36 , 37 ].…”

“…Of the 17 studies, 8 were conducted in the USA [ 27 – 34 ], 4 in the UK [ 9 , 35 – 37 ], 2 in Canada [ 38 , 39 ] and 1 each in the Netherlands [ 40 ], Australia [ 41 ], and Sweden [ 42 ]. Twelve of the studies were reported in journal articles [ 9 , 27 , 30 , 32 – 35 , 38 – 42 ] and 5 were part of doctoral research [ 28 , 29 , 31 , 36 , 37 ]. Eight of the studies used qualitative methodology [ 9 , 27 , 28 , 31 , 34 , 36 , 37 , 42 ], 6 were quantitative [ 29 , 30 , 33 , 38 – 40 ] and 3 used mixed methods [ 32 , 35 , 41 ].…”

“…Twelve of the studies were reported in journal articles [ 9 , 27 , 30 , 32 – 35 , 38 – 42 ] and 5 were part of doctoral research [ 28 , 29 , 31 , 36 , 37 ]. Eight of the studies used qualitative methodology [ 9 , 27 , 28 , 31 , 34 , 36 , 37 , 42 ], 6 were quantitative [ 29 , 30 , 33 , 38 – 40 ] and 3 used mixed methods [ 32 , 35 , 41 ]. Methods used in the qualitative work included grounded theory [ 32 , 36 ] thematic analysis [ 41 , 42 ] phenomenology [ 28 , 31 ] and framework analysis [ 9 ].…”

“…All participants in the studies resided within the community and had either a diagnosed serious mental health condition [ 9 , 30 – 32 , 38 , 39 ], mental health problems associated with a physical health condition [ 29 , 33 – 35 , 40 , 41 ], mental health problems associated with a developmental disorder [ 37 , 42 ] or self-reported mental health conditions [ 27 , 28 ]. Two of the studies involved interviews with parents of children who had a family pet [ 37 , 42 ], the remaining studies collected data directly from participants with a companion animal.…”

“…Two of the studies involved interviews with parents of children who had a family pet [ 37 , 42 ], the remaining studies collected data directly from participants with a companion animal. Twelve of the studies included all types of companion animals [ 9 , 27 , 31 – 36 , 39 – 42 ] and four specifically focused on either dogs and/or cats [ 28 – 30 , 38 ]. A total of 1727 pet owners were involved in the included studies.…”