Ask About Pets!

Posted on November 22, 2024

An Initiative to Transform Healthcare and Human Services

“Don’t call 911. I’m not going; no one can watch Princess.”

These words, spoken by a 75-year-old woman with visible head injuries, were a turning point in my career as a social worker. She needed medical attention after falling in the shower but was refusing help. Her reason? She didn’t have anyone to care for her beloved orange tabby, Princess*.

To her, Princess was her family—her closest companion, offering comfort and connection in an otherwise isolating world. Her relationship with Princess directly influenced her healthcare decisions. Yet, like many others (66% of US households have at least one pet and the majority of these indicate their pet is family per the 2023-2024 National Pet Owners Survey convened by American Pet Products Association), her feline family member was invisible in the forms, processes, and protocols of human healthcare and social services.

Photo Credit: Jen Joy-Gerlach
Photo Credit: Jen Joy-Gerlach

This moment revealed a simple but profound truth: recognizing the role of pets in people’s lives can prevent crises and improve outcomes for both humans and animals. Unfortunately, pets are generally overlooked in healthcare and social service systems.

Why Pets Matter in Healthcare Decisions

Research has long shown that pets play a critical role in their owners’ lives. For instance, based on research findings on cardiovascular benefits of living with companion animals, the American Heart Association in 2023 launched a national public health campaign called “Healthy Bond for Life”. From being a protective factor in heart health to helping ameliorate chronic mental illness symptoms through companionship and emotional support, relationships with companion animals can be a critical support for human wellbeing.

Yet, as with any relationship, relationships with companions animals entail stressors as well as benefits. Due to financial hardship, housing loss, or medical emergencies - combined with a lack of pet-inclusive support services - people may face situations in which they are forced to choose between what they need for their own well-being and keeping their beloved animal family members with them. This untenable choice can exacerbate crises. Studies show that separating people from their pets can have devastating psychological consequences, compounding stress and trauma.

For example:

These stories and studies underscore the urgent need to make pet-inclusive practices
standard in healthcare and social services.

Introducing the Ask About Pets! Initiative and Blog

I’m thrilled to announce that the Open Door Veterinary Collective is launching th Ask About Pets! Initiative to address this gap, along with my new blog with the same name. This initiative aims to embed pet-inclusive practices into healthcare and human services. By asking three simple questions, we can support both people and their pets, and provide truly client/patient-centered care:

  • Do you have any pets?
  • Is your pet helpful to you?
  • Any pet-related stressors, and who can be helpful?

Why These Questions Matter

These questions build trust, uncover critical needs from the client/patient-perspective, and create a framework for compassionate care. For example:

  • Identifying pet needs early allows organizations to connect clients to resources like foster care, financial support, or veterinary assistance.
  • Acknowledging the bond between people and their pets - an asset for human well-being - fosters stronger relationships between service providers and clients, creating a truly person-centered approach and enabling this asset to be recognized and built upon in interventions.

Tools lik PetHelpFinder.org already exist to connect people with resources, but system-wide change starts with routinely asking these questions and putting pet questions in admission, intake and assessment forms to ensure it isn’t left up to busy providers to try to remember to ask.

A Path Forward: Pet-Inclusive Care as the Standard

Returning to that pivotal day in my career: A neighbor, herself a cat lover, stepped up to care for Princess, allowing my client to seek the medical care she desperately needed. This changed how I practiced as an individual; I began proactively asking about pets and documenting in my clients’ charts. But that was my individual choice as a clinician, and I was an exception from most clinicians in being “pet-inclusive”.

To be truly client/patient-centered, it is critical that we routinely ask about pets. This means including pets questions in our organization forms and processes!! It’s time to make pet-inclusive care the standard—not the exception.

Resources and Further Reading

Explore these studies and stories to learn more:

In the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing more blog entries on LinkedIn about the “why" and “how” of pet-inclusive human healthcare and social services. I’d love your thoughts and input—please comment and share your experiences. If you have an idea for a blog topic and/or are interested in writing a guest blog, I’d love to hear from you. Stay tuned!

For people and animals, together we can make a difference,

janet

Janet Hoy-Gerlach, PhD, LCSW, LISW-S
Director of Veterinary Social Work
Open Door Veterinary Collective (ODVC)

PS - The picture above isn’t of Princess, it is a photo of my own beloved and silly orange tabby, Honey. She loves to strike goofy poses!

Need help finding pet-related resources such as temporary foster care, affordable vet care, and/or pet food/supplies? Go to PetHelpFinder.org, a searchable national database!

Are you a social worker who wants to know more about how to be pet-inclusive in your practice? Check out our Social Work Pet Help Hub!

Need information about Emotional Support Animals? See our Emotional Support Animals page!

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Open Door Veterinary Collective