'Qualitative exploration of the dog acquisition process during the COVID-19 pandemic: impact on owners' loneliness and isolation'
Authors: Sahana Sridar and Dr. Mary Elizabeth Rauktis
In ‘Qualitative exploration of the dog acquisition process during the COVID-19 pandemic: impact on owners' loneliness and isolation’, the authors investigated dog adoption in Western Pennsylvania during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among other questions, they asked: were people motivated to adopt a dog as a replacement for human contact during a period of enforced isolation? How did people acquire their dogs during the pandemic? And finally, did having a dog optimize happiness, or did supporting another living creature during a pandemic become a source of stress?
Key Insights:
- Most of the people who were interviewed adopted a dog during the pandemic as a source of companionship, and every study participant reported a decrease in feelings of loneliness.
- Dogs acted as social connectors by helping their owners meet new people on walks or errands, creating opportunities to engage in face-to-face distanced encounters while walking or at dog parks.
- “Eradicating Social Isolation” is one of the Grand Challenges for Social Work, and the pandemic presented an opportunity for social workers to better understand the role that animals can play in reducing loneliness.