Development of a community-development model based on human-animal bond

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26463575
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Community health nursing
• Research Institution: St. Luke's International University
• Principal Investigator: KOBAYASHI Maasa 聖路加国際大学, 大学院看護学研究科, 准教授 (00439514)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 地域づくり / 公衆衛生看護学 / 人と動物の関係 / 動物との共生 / Human-animal Bond

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Human-animal bond could be defined as “a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship underlying health and welfare of both people and animals in the community”.
The interviews with the municipalities taking progressive approaches found a variety of attempts were being made in cooperation with local residents, non-profit organizations, and schools despite the absence of clear definition of “human-animal bond”. Recent problems identified in the field were found to be unsolvable without cooperation with the public health sector. The questionnaire survey of local residents found those who have had pets had a higher sense of identity with the community, were committed to the community by participating in the local activities, and were more aware of human-animal bond. Community development based on human-animal bond may be advanced by using pet owners as a core.

Free Research Field

公衆衛生看護学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

公衆衛生看護活動における「地域づくり」はソーシャルサポートの醸成と共に重要な課題となっている。近年は地域のつながり、ソーシャルネットワーク、多様性の受容が重要視されており、そうした社会背景の中で、地域における動物との共生による住民の結びつきは自治体にとっても重要な課題になっている。住民の動物との共生への認識は、ペットとの共生経験が関連していることが示され、また動物共生にまつわる現場の様々な課題は、公衆衛生看護的な関わりと切っても切り離せない住民の課題とつながっており、今後さらに部署横断的な住民へのアプローチが求められることが示唆された。