title: Pets' Impact on Your Patients' Health: Leveraging Benefits and Mitigating Risk.
abstract: Over two thirds of Americans live with pets and consider them important members of the family. Pets benefit human health (zooeyia) in 4 ways: as builders of social capital, as agents of harm reduction, as motivators for healthy behavior change, and as potential participants in treatment plans. Conversely, pets can present risks to their owners. They are potential sources of zoonotic disease and injury. Pets can also challenge a family's prioritization of financial and social resources. To activate the benefits of zooeyia and appropriately calibrate and mitigate zoonotic risk, physicians first need to know about the pets in their patients' families. Asking about pets is a simple and feasible approach to assess patients' environmental history and social capital. Asking about pets is a nonthreatening way to build rapport and demonstrates an interest in the whole family, which can improve the physician-patient therapeutic alliance. Physicians can use an interprofessional, collaborative approach with veterinarians to address zoonotic health risks and leverage zooeyia.
authors.affiliation: From Continuing Professional Development, Faculty of Medicine (KH), and the Department of Family and Community Medicine (VA, FAK, AM), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Nurse Practitioner Prorgam, School of Nursing, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (LB); and Independent Consultant (MD). kd.hodgson@utoronto.ca.
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hodgson
authors.affiliation: From Continuing Professional Development, Faculty of Medicine (KH), and the Department of Family and Community Medicine (VA, FAK, AM), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Nurse Practitioner Prorgam, School of Nursing, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (LB); and Independent Consultant (MD).
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Barton
authors.affiliation: From Continuing Professional Development, Faculty of Medicine (KH), and the Department of Family and Community Medicine (VA, FAK, AM), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Nurse Practitioner Prorgam, School of Nursing, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (LB); and Independent Consultant (MD).
authors.forename: Marcia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Darling
authors.affiliation: From Continuing Professional Development, Faculty of Medicine (KH), and the Department of Family and Community Medicine (VA, FAK, AM), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Nurse Practitioner Prorgam, School of Nursing, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (LB); and Independent Consultant (MD).
authors.forename: Viola
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Antao
authors.affiliation: From Continuing Professional Development, Faculty of Medicine (KH), and the Department of Family and Community Medicine (VA, FAK, AM), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Nurse Practitioner Prorgam, School of Nursing, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (LB); and Independent Consultant (MD).
authors.forename: Florence A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: From Continuing Professional Development, Faculty of Medicine (KH), and the Department of Family and Community Medicine (VA, FAK, AM), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Nurse Practitioner Prorgam, School of Nursing, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (LB); and Independent Consultant (MD).
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Monavvari
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001841:Human-Animal Bond; D006801:Humans; D057805:Pets / Q000523:psychology*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D018570:Risk Assessment; D064890:Social Determinants of Health; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission
keywords: Collaboration; Communication; Pets; Primary Health Care; Social Determinants of Health; Zooeyia