Citation

Hodgson K, Barton L, Darling M, Antao V, Kim FA, Monavvari A. J. Am. Board Fam. Med. 2015; 28(4): 526-534.

Affiliation

From Continuing Professional Development, Faculty of Medicine (KH), and the Department of Family and Community Medicine (VA, FAK, AM), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Nurse Practitioner Prorgam, School of Nursing, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (LB); and Independent Consultant (MD).

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, American Board of Family Medicine)

DOI

10.3122/jabfm.2015.04.140254

PMID

26152446

Abstract

Over two thirds of Americans live with pets and consider them important members of the family. Pets benefit human health (zooeyia) in 4 ways: as builders of social capital, as agents of harm reduction, as motivators for healthy behavior change, and as potential participants in treatment plans. Conversely, pets can present risks to their owners. They are potential sources of zoonotic disease and injury. Pets can also challenge a family's prioritization of financial and social resources. To activate the benefits of zooeyia and appropriately calibrate and mitigate zoonotic risk, physicians first need to know about the pets in their patients' families. Asking about pets is a simple and feasible approach to assess patients' environmental history and social capital. Asking about pets is a nonthreatening way to build rapport and demonstrates an interest in the whole family, which can improve the physician-patient therapeutic alliance. Physicians can use an interprofessional, collaborative approach with veterinarians to address zoonotic health risks and leverage zooeyia.

Language: en