Abstract
The title of this chapter quotes, in part, a response from a patient when I, a clinical social worker, asked if companion animals were part of his family. He was pleasantly surprised that a health professional would have any interest in this aspect of his life. According to Risley-Curtiss (2010), two-thirds of participants (1,091) responding to an American national study on social work practitioners and the human-companion animal bond reported that they do not include questions about companion animals in assessments. However, according to Turner (2003), as much as 60 per cent of the Western world lives with at least one companion animal, but inquiry exploring the presence or absence of companion-animal bonds in psychosocial assessment has yet to be fully integrated into social work education and practice. Such inquiry can serve as a portal to identifying a myriad of psychosocial risk and protective factors associated with the human-companion animal bond. Furthermore, it can facilitate the identification and disclosure of animal welfare concerns presenting in the lives of our clients or patients.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Beck, A., & Glickman, L. (1987). Future Research on Pet Facilitated Therapy: A Plea for Comprehension Before Intervention. Paper presented at NIH Technology Assessment Workshop: Health Benefits of Pets, Washington, DC, America.
Chilcot, J., Wellsted, D., & Fanington, K. (2010). Depression in end-stage renal disease: current advances and research. Seminars in Dialysis, 23(1), 74–82.
Couser, W., Remuzii, G., Mendis, S., & Ton ell, M. (2011). The contribution of chronic kidney disease to the global burden of non-communicable diseases. Kidney International, 80(12), 1258–70. Retrieved from http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/755542_2.
Cukor, D., Cohen, S., Peterson, R., & Kemmel, P. (2007). Psychosocial aspects of chronic disease: ESRD as a paradigmatic illness. Journal of American Social Nephrology, 18(12), 3042–55.
Finnegan-John, J., & Thomas, V. (2013). The psychosocial experience of patients with end-stage disease and its impact on quality of life: Findings from a needs assessment to shape a service. ISRN Nephrology, 2013, Article ID 308986. Doi. org/10.5402/2013/308986.
Gokal, R. (1994). Quality of life. In R. Gokal, & K. Nolph (Eds.), The Textbook of Peritoneal Dialysis (pp. 679–94). Dordrecht: XIV Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Horowitz, S. (2008). The human-animal bond: Health implications across the lifespan. Alternative and Complementary Therapies, 14(5), 251–6.
Israel, M. (1986). Depression in dialysis patients: A review of psychological factors. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 31(5), 445–51.
Kalantar-Zadeh, K., & Unruh, M. (2005). Health related quality of life in patients rath chronic kidney disease. International Urology and Nephrology, 37(2), 367–78. Doi: 10.1007/s 11255–004-0012-4.
Levey, A., Atkins, R., Coresh, J., Cohen, E, Collins, A., Eckardt, K-U.,...& Eknoyan, G. (2007). Chronic Kidney disease as a global public health problem: Approaches and initiatives — a position statement from Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes. Kidney International, 72(3), 247–59. Doi: 10.1038/sj.ki.5002343.
Levy, N. (1983). Psychonephrology 2: Psychological Problems in Kidney Failure and Their Treatment New York: Plenum Medical Book Company.
Mucsi, I. (2008, 1 January). Health-related quality of life in chronic kidney disease patients. Primary Psychiatry. Retrieved from http://primarypsychology.com/health-related-quality-of4ife-in-chronic-kidney-disease-patients/.
Pat el, S., Jain, V., Kimm el, P. (2008). Sleep and quality of life in renal disease. Inj. Verster, S. Pandi-Perumal, & D. Streiner (Eds.), Sleep and Quality of Life in Clinical Medicine (pp. 389–99). New York: Humana Press.
Risley-Curtiss, C. (2010). Social work practitioners and the human-companion animal bond: A national study. Social Work, 55(1), 38–46.
Theofilou, P. (2012). Quality of life and mental health in hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients: The role of health beliefs. International journal of Urology and Nephrology, 44(1), 245–53
Turner, W. (2003). Bereavement counselling: Using a social work model for pet loss. Journal of Family Social Work, 7(1), 69–81.
White, S., Chadban, S., Jan, S., Chapman, J., & Cass, A. (2008). How can we achieve global equity in provision of renal replacement therapy? In Bulletin of th e World Hea I th Orga n iza tion, 86(3), 161–24 0. Ret ri eve d fr om http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/86/3/07-04
Wilson, C. & Turner, D. (Eds.) (1998). Companion Animals in Human Health. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2014 Nina Papazian
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Papazian, N. (2014). No One Ever Asked Me That: The Value of Social Work Inquiry into the Human-Animal Bond. In: Ryan, T. (eds) Animals in Social Work. The Palgrave Macmillan Animal Ethics Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137372291_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137372291_11
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-47607-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-37229-1
eBook Packages: Palgrave Religion & Philosophy CollectionPhilosophy and Religion (R0)