UT pilot study examines benefits of emotional support animals
The BladeMay 28, 2021
May 28—A pilot study led by a
"It's a really under-utilized resource," she told The Blade. "Animals can be incredible partners for our well being."
The study, titled "Exploring Benefits of Emotional Support Animals (ESAs): A Longitudinal Pilot Study with Adults with Serious Mental Illness (SMI)" and published
"We have seen the amazing transformation in some cases in how well the participants do after getting a pet and making it part of their family," she said.
ESAs are not service or therapy animals. They require no formal training and are similar to pets, but their status is elevated because their companionship provides a person relief from diagnosed mental illness. ESAs are covered under the federal Fair Housing Act when a health-care provider issues a written statement deeming the animal necessary to mitigate a patient's mental-health disability.
"It's not a high-resource, high-technology kind of support," Ms. Hoy-Gerlach said. "It's pretty basic and simple. It's companionship."
Ms. Hoy-Gerlach and the research team followed 11 HARP participants for a year from the time they were referred to the program and matched with an animal. Participants were given standardized surveys to measure depression, anxiety, and loneliness before receiving their pet and 12 months after.
The surveys yielded statistically significant decreases in all three areas.
"All of them stated their mental health was better and that they strongly believed that was because of the emotional support animal," Ms. Hoy-Gerlach said.
The team also visited participants at one, three, six, nine, and 12 months into the program to collect saliva samples before and after 10-minute sessions of focused interaction with their ESAs. The samples were tested to measure levels of cortisol, a stress-related hormone, as well as oxytocin, often called the "love hormone" that is related to relationships and bonding.
"This was not statistically significant, however there's a consistent pattern of people's oxytocin levels going up and their cortisol levels going down," Ms. Hoy-Gerlach said.
She noted oxytocin levels were at their highest at the 12-month mark, indicating participants' bonds with their ESAs intensified as time progressed.
Tests measuring a third biomarker, the enzyme alpha amylase that can indicate stress, were inconclusive.
Quotes from interviews with participants included in the study show the animals provided not only comfort and symptom mitigation, but motivation to care for themselves because the animal needs them.
"I see what it's helping me do," one person said. "It's helping me get up and do things I can't do for just myself."
The pilot study was funded by the
"One thing this study did not do is quantify the health-care cost of those individuals,"
One participant was quoted in the study as saying they believed their
"She is helping keep me even keeled," the person said. "I think about a year ago if I had been in the situation I have been in lately, a year ago I would probably be in the hospital right now, but she sits on me and keeps me even."
Another person indicated their
"I'm hoping this catalyzes more research and helps raise awareness of how these animals can really be life-changing for people," Ms. Hoy-Gerlach said.
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