People who are elderly and live alone or in facilities designed for people their own age may benefit from Animal Companions because it can help them reduce stress, lower blood pressure, increase social interaction and physical activity, and even assist them in learning new things. There are a lot of elderly people who live alone or in facilities designed for people their own age who have pets. This argument is made by a person who maintains the opinion that having a pet is beneficial to one's health. There is some evidence to suggest that owning a pet can help people of a certain age live longer and healthier lives. According to the findings of some studies, this is the case.

good morning and welcome

in this video we will talk about

benefits of animal companions for the

elderly

so make sure to watch the full video

if you've ever shared your home with a

companion animal or even just sat on the

couch with a friend's companion animal

you know how wonderful and personable

they can be

when you get excited they get excited

too and they intuitively know when

you're feeling blue

and let's be honest they definitely make

going for walks and hikes that much more

fun

imagine going to the doctors and being

prescribed an animal more specifically a

companion animal

for elderly people in particular

sometimes a furry friend is exactly what

the doctor ordered

from psychological benefits such as

lowering anxiety to social benefits of

getting out of the house for a walk

companion animals really do positively

impact

health physical health

for older people who are still capable

of being active a dog can get them out

of the house and moving around

in a survey regarding the attitudes of

the elderly regarding the benefits of

animal companionship 71 percent of

participants said that their pets make

them feel better when they physically

feel bad

one study even found that animal

companionship is conducive to higher

survival rates in coronary disease

in patients who had recently suffered

from a heart attack the mortality rate

among people with pets was one-third

that of patients without animal

companionship

according to the study approximately one

million people die of heart disease each

year animal companionship may save 30

000 lives annually

furthermore people who live with animals

lower blood pressure lower triglycerides

and lower cholesterol than those living

without results from a study of 100

medicare patients shows that animal

guardians visit their doctors 21 less

often and use less medicine than those

without animals and recover faster from

surgery and illness

not convinced

a study of australian households found

that the presence of a pet leads to

health savings between 790 million

dollars and 1.5 billion dollars

in the u.s medication costs dropped from

an average of three dollars and 80 cents

per patient per day to just one dollar

and 80 cents per day per patient per day

in new nursing home facilities in new

york missouri and texas that now have

animals and plants as an integral part

of the environment

c

phyto and fluffy save lives and money

mental health

of course the mental and emotional

benefits might be more obvious than the

physical benefits

one key benefit that animals play in the

psychological health of the elderly is

combating loneliness

when a companion animal lives with you

you are never alone

for young people living alone isn't

necessarily

a big deal since it's not hard to go out

and have a social life but it's not

always as easy for elderly and pets can

help offset the effects of loneliness

a study from pets are wonderful support

found recently widowed women who owned

pets experienced significantly fewer

symptoms of physical and psychological

disease and reported lower medication

use than widows who did not own pets

pets have even been found to reduce

depression which of course can stem from

loneliness

older pet owners have often told us how

incredibly barren and lonely their lives

were without their pet's companionship

even when there were some downsides to

owning an active pet says linda anderson

co-founder of the the angel animals

network in minneapolis

psychologist penny b donnenfeld who

brings her golden retriever mix sandy to

her new york city office has even

witnessed her ability to rev up elder

owners memories

i've seen those with memory loss

interact and access memories from long

ago she says

having a pet helps the senior focus on

something other than physical problems

and negative preoccupations about loss

or aging