Successful Aging and Human-Animal Interaction
Adults over the age of 65 now represent a substantially larger proportion of the US population than ever before and the percentage of older adults is on the rise. Advancing age is commonly associated with a number of mental and physical health risks inclu
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Abstract Adults over the age of 65 now represent a substantially larger proportion of the US population than ever before and the percentage of older adults is on the rise. Advancing age is commonly associated with a number of mental and physical health risks including reduced social networks, and increased risk of mortality and morbidity. As the population of older adults increases so will the demand on the health care system which makes it increasingly important to find ways to support healthy or successful aging. This chapter discusses the potential of companion animals to address, at least in part, this growing concern. This chapter will summarize some of the key research findings suggesting that companion animals may play a role in promoting healthy active aging and will briefly discuss the physical and mental health benefits associated with pet ownership or with the simple act of interacting with a companion animal. Keywords Animal assisted therapy · Pet therapy · Stress reduction · Pets · Companion animals · Life course · Family life cycle · Child development · Caregiving · Stress · Aging · Health · Well-being · Bereavement · Human-animal interaction · Human-animal bond · Lifespan
Pet Ownership and Older Adults The proportion of adults over the age of 65 has been on the increase since 1950 when it was a mere 8% of the US population. That number has increased to 16% today and is projected to increase to 26% by 2050 (https://www.prb.org/agingpopu lationclocks/). Commonly accompanying advancing age are a number of health risks including decreased cognitive and physical functioning, along with reduced social networks, and increased risk of mortality and morbidity (Friedmann et al., 2020). As the population of older adults increases so will the demand on the health care system N. R. Gee (B) Center for Human-Animal Interaction, School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 R. Bures et al., Well-Being Over the Life Course, SpringerBriefs in Well-Being and Quality of Life Research, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64085-9_6
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which makes it increasingly important to find ways to support healthy or successful aging. The goal of successful aging is to live the highest quality life for as long as possible. There is an accumulation of evidence suggesting that companion animals may play a role in promoting healthy active aging, and this chapter will summarize the latest available science on this subject. We will discuss the physical and mental health benefits associated with pet ownership or with the simple act of interacting with an animal. Pet ownership is very common among older adults, with 89% of adults over the age of 50 reporting that they have kept a pet at some point in their lives (Friedmann et al., 2019). Not surprisingly, the two most commonly cited reasons for owning a pet are enjoyment and companionship. Despite the fact that dog ownership has been ass
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