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The impact of pet ownership on healthcare access and utilization among people with HIV
Though bonds with pets can be health-promoting for people with HIV (PWH), recent studies indicate that owning pets may complicate healthcare access, especially for those with fewer economic resources, poorer social support, and a strong human-animal bond. In this study, we make a case for considerin...
Autores principales: | , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Public Library of Science
2023
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10619778/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37910449 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0292658 |
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author | Applebaum, Jennifer W. McDonald, Shelby E. Widmeyer, Maya Fabelo, Humberto E. Cook, Robert L. |
author_facet | Applebaum, Jennifer W. McDonald, Shelby E. Widmeyer, Maya Fabelo, Humberto E. Cook, Robert L. |
author_sort | Applebaum, Jennifer W. |
collection | PubMed |
description | Though bonds with pets can be health-promoting for people with HIV (PWH), recent studies indicate that owning pets may complicate healthcare access, especially for those with fewer economic resources, poorer social support, and a strong human-animal bond. In this study, we make a case for considering pets to be an important element of the social environment that can influence healthcare access and utilization among PWH. Pet-owning PWH (n = 204) were recruited at healthcare and community sites throughout Florida as part of a larger survey study (the “Florida Cohort”). We developed a 12-item index of pet-related barriers to healthcare, which was designed to assess whether the participants experienced or anticipated any barriers to accessing and/or utilizing timely healthcare or health-related services due to pet caregiving or concerns about pet welfare. We estimated a series of regression models (negative binomial, logistic regression) to assess the effects of comfort from companion animals, human social support, healthcare needs, and sociodemographic characteristics on (Andersen (2005) et al.) the total number of pet-related healthcare barriers endorsed, (Phillips (1998) et al.) previously experienced pet-related healthcare barriers, and (Alegría (2011) et al.) anticipated pet-related healthcare barriers. Thirty-six percent of the sample reported at least one experienced or anticipated pet-related barrier to their healthcare; 17% reported previous healthcare barriers and 31% anticipated future healthcare barriers. Greater comfort from companion animals, greater healthcare needs, and poorer social support were associated with a greater probability of experiencing or anticipating any pet-related healthcare barriers. Those who identified racially as Black were less likely to anticipate future healthcare barriers than those who were White. Income was associated with pet-related healthcare barriers in all models. Given the importance of health maintenance for PWH and previous research suggesting pets may be an important emotional support for this population, social safety net programs and community partnerships that support multispecies families are strongly recommended. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10619778 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-106197782023-11-02 The impact of pet ownership on healthcare access and utilization among people with HIV Applebaum, Jennifer W. McDonald, Shelby E. Widmeyer, Maya Fabelo, Humberto E. Cook, Robert L. PLoS One Research Article Though bonds with pets can be health-promoting for people with HIV (PWH), recent studies indicate that owning pets may complicate healthcare access, especially for those with fewer economic resources, poorer social support, and a strong human-animal bond. In this study, we make a case for considering pets to be an important element of the social environment that can influence healthcare access and utilization among PWH. Pet-owning PWH (n = 204) were recruited at healthcare and community sites throughout Florida as part of a larger survey study (the “Florida Cohort”). We developed a 12-item index of pet-related barriers to healthcare, which was designed to assess whether the participants experienced or anticipated any barriers to accessing and/or utilizing timely healthcare or health-related services due to pet caregiving or concerns about pet welfare. We estimated a series of regression models (negative binomial, logistic regression) to assess the effects of comfort from companion animals, human social support, healthcare needs, and sociodemographic characteristics on (Andersen (2005) et al.) the total number of pet-related healthcare barriers endorsed, (Phillips (1998) et al.) previously experienced pet-related healthcare barriers, and (Alegría (2011) et al.) anticipated pet-related healthcare barriers. Thirty-six percent of the sample reported at least one experienced or anticipated pet-related barrier to their healthcare; 17% reported previous healthcare barriers and 31% anticipated future healthcare barriers. Greater comfort from companion animals, greater healthcare needs, and poorer social support were associated with a greater probability of experiencing or anticipating any pet-related healthcare barriers. Those who identified racially as Black were less likely to anticipate future healthcare barriers than those who were White. Income was associated with pet-related healthcare barriers in all models. Given the importance of health maintenance for PWH and previous research suggesting pets may be an important emotional support for this population, social safety net programs and community partnerships that support multispecies families are strongly recommended. Public Library of Science 2023-11-01 /pmc/articles/PMC10619778/ /pubmed/37910449 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0292658 Text en © 2023 Applebaum et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Applebaum, Jennifer W. McDonald, Shelby E. Widmeyer, Maya Fabelo, Humberto E. Cook, Robert L. The impact of pet ownership on healthcare access and utilization among people with HIV |
title | The impact of pet ownership on healthcare access and utilization among people with HIV |
title_full | The impact of pet ownership on healthcare access and utilization among people with HIV |
title_fullStr | The impact of pet ownership on healthcare access and utilization among people with HIV |
title_full_unstemmed | The impact of pet ownership on healthcare access and utilization among people with HIV |
title_short | The impact of pet ownership on healthcare access and utilization among people with HIV |
title_sort | impact of pet ownership on healthcare access and utilization among people with hiv |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10619778/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37910449 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0292658 |
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