This
month's
article
is
reviewed
by
Alison
Bullock,
an
occupational
therapist
from
Tees,
Esk and
Wear
Valleys
NHS
Trust.
The
study
focuses
on
caring
for pets
as a
meaningful
community
occupation.
It
explores
the
influence
of pet
ownership
on the
occupational
lives
and
community
connections
of a
population
with
serious
mental
illness.
A
convenience
sampling
method
was used
to
compare
the
characteristics
and
motivations
of 204
users of
assertive
outreach
services
in
relation
to pet
ownership.
Further
comparison
of 59
users
who gave
informed
consent
and
completed
a survey
questionnaire
took
place in
relation
to socio
demographic
characteristics,
motivations
for and
against
pet
ownership
and the
number
and type
of pets
lived
with and
desired.
It also
tested
the
hypotheses
that pet
ownership
would
help
this
population
engage
more in
meaningful
activities
(using
the EMAS
scale)
and
demonstrate
better
physical,
social
and
psychological
community
integration.
A
response
bias
towards
pet
owners
was
found
with
55.5% of
pet
owners
responding,
and only
26.1% of
non-pet
owners.
Statistical
analysis
of the
ordinal
and
categorical
data
found
that
this
client
group
has much
lower
pet
ownership
than the
corresponding
general
population,
but that
the most
common
motivations
for pet
ownerships
were
“companionship”
and
“someone
to love”
(the
same as
for the
North
American
population).
Cost and
accommodation
rules
were the
most
common
reason
for
non-ownership,
and of
the 38
non-pet
owners
63.2%
expressed
a desire
to own a
pet.
No
significant
differences
were
found
between
the two
groups
for:
hospital
days;
hospital
admissions;
frequency
of
contact
with the
Assertive
Outreach
team;
most
frequently
reported
stressors;
socio
demographic
variables
between
the two
groups
(other
than
gender)
and
physical
community
integration.
However
significant
differences
were
found in
the
following
areas:
diagnosis
(79.5%
of those
with a
schizophrenia
diagnosis
did not
own
pets,
44.5% of
those
with a
diagnosis
of mood
disorders
did not
own
pets);
GAF
scores
(with
pet
owners
having
higher
global
functioning
p< .05);
gender
(women
were
more
likely
to be
pet
owners
than
men);
engagement
in
meaningful
activity
(pet
owners
had
increased
engagement
p< .05);
psychological
community
integration
(pet
owners
had
increased
integration
p< 0.05)
and
social
community
integration
(pet
owners
had
increased
integration
p<
0.01).
Key
areas of
concern
with the
study
centre
around:
the
reliability,
validity
and
sensitivity
of some
of the
tools
used;
potential
bias of
staff
members
in
completing
GAF
scores
and
their
influence
on study
recruitment;
and the
non-experimental
design
with
relatively
small
numbers
of
participants
for some
parts of
the
study
which
limits
interpretation.
The
results
suggest
that OTs
and
other
workers
should
actively
discuss
pet
ownership
as
meaningful
and
therapeutic
occupation
with
this
client
group
and
highlight
it as a
potential
focus
for
future
research
including
further
examination
of the
relationship
between
hospital
admission
and
owning a
pet.
If
you
would
like to
read
this
paper
the full
reference
is:
Zimolag,
U., &
Krupa,
T.
(2009).
Pet
ownership
as a
meaningful
community
occupation
for
people
with
serious
mental
illness.
American
Journal
of
Occupational
Therapy,
63,
126–137.
