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Poster 6
Does Pet Ownership Enable Community Integration in Serious Mental Illness?
Author(s): Ulrike Zimolag and Terry Krupa
Organization(s): Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Corresponding author: Ulrike Zimolag (click to contact)
Abstract (click to show/hide)
Introduction: Despite a growing interest in pet ownership as a natural community occupation, there is a lack of knowledge on its impact for individuals with serious mental illness.
Objectives: Research aims pertaining to persons with serious mental illness were to: (1) determine the proportion of individuals who engage in pet ownership; (2) examine clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of pet and non-pet owners; (3) explore their motivations for pet and non-pet ownership, and (4) study the relationship between pet ownership and frequency of engagement in meaningful activities and three dimensions of community integration.
with serious mental illness.
Method: Three Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams reported on the pet ownership status of all community dwelling service recipients (n= 204). Fifty-nine (20 pet owners and 39 non-pet owners) of the 204 clients completed an engagement in meaningful activities and a community integration survey. Both of these surveys are valid, and reliable, outcome measures previously used with this population. Nonparametric tests were selected for data analysis.
with serious mental illness.
Results: Of the 204 ACT clients, 18.6% engaged in the occupation of pet ownership, compared to more than 53% in the Canadian population (n=1000). Of the non-pet survey participants, 63.2% expressed the desire to engage in this occupation. There were significant differences between pet and non-pet owners on diagnosis, gender, and a global measure of function. Pet owners had significantly higher scores on measures of engagement in meaningful activity and psychological, but not physical, integration. The key finding supports the hypothesis that pet owners living in the community with serious mental illness demonstrate higher social community integration (p ≤ .01).
with serious mental illness.
Conclusion: The results substantiate the potential of pet ownership to enable community integration and raise the issue of how occupational therapists can empower this population in this natural occupation.