April 3, 2019 — 21:02 PM
Humans
have anecdotally sung the praises of owning pets, but a new poll shows that
having a furry friend actually helps older adults cope with their own mental
and physical health.
The National Poll on Healthy Aging surveyed
2,051 adults ages 50 to 80 and found 55 percent of adults have a pet. Of the
pet owners, many of them pointed to the emotional benefits of the
camaraderie their pets give them: 88 percent said that having pets
helps them enjoy life, 86 percent said that pets make them feel loved, and 73
percent said pets provide them with a sense of purpose. (These effects
shouldn't be understated: Research suggests loneliness can be detrimental to your physical health in
old age, whereas having a sense of purpose is linked to more strength and walking speed later
in life.)
But pet
ownership itself had some even more direct benefits: 79 percent of older pet
owners said their pets reduced their stress levels, 60 percent said pets help
them cope with their physical and emotional health, and 34 percent said pets
help take their mind off pain. Those numbers are even higher among the
respondents who reported being in fair or poor physical health, with 72 percent
reporting that pets help them cope with their health.
"Relationships
with pets tend to be less complicated than those with humans, and
pets are often a source of great enjoyment," one of the poll's authors
said in a news release. "They
also provide older adults with a sense of being needed and loved."
Additionally,
52 percent of pet owners said they got a pet specifically for companionship,
and about half of all pet owners reported that their pet sleeps in the bed with
them.
Despite
the numerous ways that pets help older people's health, some pet owners
reported drawbacks to having a pet, and those without pets mentioned the myriad
reasons they didn't want a pet. Fifteen percent of pet owners said they put
their pet's needs ahead of their own health needs, a figure that was even
higher among respondents who reported being in poor health. For the respondents
without pets, 42 percent said a pet would tie them down, 23 percent said they
couldn't afford a pet, and 20 percent said they didn't have time to care for an
animal.
"For
people living on a fixed income, expenses related to health care for pets, and
especially pets that have chronic health issues, can be a struggle. Older
adults can also develop health problems or disabilities that make pet care
difficult," the study's authors added.
Nonetheless,
pet ownership has long been linked with better health.
The American Heart Association has
linked dog ownership in particular with greater longevity and reduced risk for
heart disease, and veterinarian and pet parenting specialist Jeff Werber tells mbg that pets can
reduce depression and encourage an active lifestyle. He
adds that some therapy dogs are so smart they have been trained to alert
diabetic owners of a drop in glucose, to bark and alert parents of children
with seizures, and can even assist Parkinson's patients with household tasks
like opening and closing doors.
The
study drew the conclusion that the benefits of owning a pet far outweigh the
negatives and suggested that older adults who enjoy the company of pets but
cannot have one should look into volunteering at a local animal shelter, having
visits with therapy pets, or do some light pet sitting for friends and family.
Social services that assist older adults with the cost of pet care would also
be helpful, and assisted living centers could also make pet care a more
communal experience to alleviate the burden from individual pet owners.
There
are also plenty of ways for the average person to help meet the need for some
animal lovin': Individual pet owners can train their own pets to become therapy
animals and take them to senior centers, hospitals, and retirement homes to
provide comfort. Or if you know an older person with a pet, offering to pet sit
or dog walk might be more helpful than you think.
Pets
are good for everyone's health, so any way you can incorporate a fur baby into
someone's life can be a meaningful and impactful act.
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