211 Steering Committee - Opening Doors to Resources for People with Pets
A 211 National Steering Committee Webinar
With 66% of United States households reporting they have at least one pet and most stating they consider their animals to be family, it is critical for human service providers to recognize and respond to these relationships. Within this webinar, attendees will learn resources and strategies for helping keep people and their pets together and well during times of vulnerability and crises.
Learning Objectives:
- Attendees will be able to describe at least one of each type of human benefit associated with non-human animal companionship: biological, psychological, social, and emotional.
- Attendees will be able to identify at least three client risks related to omitting consideration of client companion animal concerns in human service provision.
- Attendees will be able to explain what “human/animal support services” are and give at least one example of each of the three main types of human/animal supports.
- Attendees will be able to describe at least three resources for locating human/animal supports.
Dr. Janet Hoy-Gerlach is a clinical social worker, author, researcher, and human-animal interaction researcher. She is currently the Director of Veterinary Social Work at Open Door Veterinary Collective, a national non-profit that works to improve access to veterinary care and related supports for people with pets. Janet is lead author of the peer-reviewed book Human-Animal Interaction: A Social Work Guide (2017), published by the National Association of Social Work. Her research on mental health benefits of animal companionship has been featured in national media outlets such as Discover Magazine, Business Insider, Medscape, and Psychology Today. She serves as an expert witness on human-animal bond mental health benefits for the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.
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