Pets provide not only psychological benefits but also physical benefits for older adults, especially those who are socially isolated
Skippy, a 4-year-old Bichon Frise, is held by his owner Virginia Chang Kiraly, with the Menlo Park Fire Protection District Board, during the “Loneliness Awareness Event,” presented by San Mateo County Board of Supervisors Vice President David J. Canepa at the Peninsula Humane Society in San Mateo, Calif., on Tuesday, July 23, 2024. which declared loneliness a public health emergency earlier this year, has been running a campaign to address social isolation and loneliness.
A report by U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy last year compared the physical affects of loneliness to smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. While cats and dogs are the most popular pets in American households, the benefits can go for any legal pet including rabbits, birds or other companion animals. “ decline among the aging is slower among pet owners than non-owners,” Hart said. “This is with measures of frailty, dementia, and physical function, the onset of disability or dementia.”
Chang Kiraly,a San Mateo County Harbor District commissioner, pushed for a pet program to help firefighters deal with post-traumatic stress disorder. “The therapy animals just have a calming effect on the patients,” said Lisa Van Buskirk of the Peninsula Humane Society and SPCA. “It’s just amazing.”
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