For Connie Newman, 77, the only reason she is able to live alone and not feel lonely is Yoshi, her two-year-old Schnauzer.
“He is my reason for being home,” said Newman, who has lived alone in her Winnipeg townhouse for 20 years. “He’s my companion. He keeps me alive and focused on the good things in life.”
“I can talk to him. He doesn’t answer me back — which is probably a good thing — but I can talk to him and act like I’m carrying on a conversation.”
Newman’s enthusiasm for pets extends beyond just her home. In her capacity as executive director of the Manitoba Association of Senior Communities, Newman makes recommendations to other seniors to consider getting pets to curb their loneliness.
Research backs up her recommendations.
Rachel Savage, a scientist at Toronto’s Women’s College Hospital who researches loneliness, says pets can help reduce the harmful health effects of loneliness.
Recognizing pets’ health benefits, some seniors’ institutions are now facilitating access to animals — including with pet therapy sessions and pet robots — to support seniors who cannot own pets themselves.
‘Greater risk for loneliness’
Loneliness can significantly affect a person’s physical and mental health, says Savage.
Nearly two-thirds of Canadians aged 50 and older struggle with loneliness. More than one-third have weak social networks.
“Older adults are at greater risk for loneliness because they go through a lot of different life transitions,” said Savage. “Transitions like retirement, moving residences … mobility changes or health declines can be a really important trigger for loneliness as well.”
Research shows cardiovascular disease, cancer, depression, anxiety and dementia are linked to feeling lonely. A 2023 review in the science journal Nature found loneliness can even increase the likelihood of premature death.
For some seniors, it is difficult to make new friends, says Lisa Levin, chief executive officer at the seniors’ association AdvantAge Ontario. Those who outlive their family and friends may have an even harder time.
“It’s very difficult to replace a lifelong friendship,” said Levin.
Pets can help fill this void, creating opportunities to connect with other people.
“[Yoshi] … helps me to go for a walk on a regular basis and meet other people,” said Newman, about her Schnauzer. “He’s an introduction tool to somebody else to say, ‘Hi, my pet’s name is Yoshi. What’s yours?’ So he’s a conversation starter.”
The act of caring for pets can also reduce feelings of loneliness, says Dr. Samir Sinha, director of health policy research at the National Institute on Aging at Toronto Metropolitan University.
A 2013 study published in the scientific journal Aging & Mental Health found older adults with a pet were 36 per cent less likely to report feeling lonely than those who did not own a pet.
“Pet ownership … can be one of the things that can really support an older person’s mental health and well being, especially as they age,” said Sinha. “It can give an older person a sense of purpose, and that’s something that’s been found to support health and well being if you have someone else to care for.”
‘Beloved program’
Many retirement and long-term care homes do not permit residents to keep pets in the building, says Sinha. The rationale for such policies is that seniors may be too frail to care for a pet, or require a level of care that personal support workers and nurses may not have time to provide.
However, recognizing animals’ health benefits, many long-term care homes do offer residents regular pet therapy sessions, says Marsha Seens, provincial therapy dog program advisor for Ontario at St. John Ambulance, an international medical charity.
St. John Ambulance opened one of the first Canadian therapy dog programs in 1992. It now has more than 2,000 dogs serving a number of facilities, including more than a thousand long-term care homes.
Among staff, these pet therapy sessions are known as the “beloved program,” says Seens, because of how effective they are at improving people’s quality of life — a core mission of St. John.
“Many a time … they’ll go do a visit, and the person hasn’t spoken in weeks, and the dog will come in, and all of a sudden, this person is speaking to the dog,” said Seens. “Or … someone who’s had a stroke has limited mobility, but you can really see them trying to use what mobility they have left to pet the dog.”
Even seniors from cultures that are not used to having pets often open up to the animals, says Seens. She has also seen pet therapy make a difference for seniors whose families cannot regularly visit.
“We walk through the door [with a dog], and literally, you could have a crowd come around you,” Seens said. “All dragging their walkers behind them to get to the dog as fast as they can.”
In some cases, pet robots can be used to support seniors who cannot be near animals for health reasons, says Sinha. He pointed to the example of PARO, a therapeutic robot designed to look like a cute baby seal. It emits heat and purrs to comfort seniors with cognition disorders such as Alzheimer’s.
“Even artificial pets … reduce the symptoms of anxiety, depression … and agitation and people living with dementia,” said Sinha.
Newman, who brings Yoshi at least once a month to visit a friend at a long-term care home, says the seniors — including her friends — often ask about Yoshi before they ask about her.
Unlike people, dogs are non-judgmental, says Seens. She has seen many seniors open up to the dogs and their handlers.
Over the years, the dogs become a regular companion in the seniors’ lives, helping them feel supported — and less alone.
“I’ll tell you, they’ll never remember the handlers’ names,” she said. “But they always remember the dogs’ names.”
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