Joshua Trigg

No Pet or Their Person Left Behind: Increasing the Disaster Resilience of Vulnerable Groups through Animal Attachment, Activities and Networks

Simple Summary The potential for reconfiguring pet ownership from a risk factor to a protective factor for natural disaster survival has been recently proposed. But how might this resilience-building proposition apply to members of the community who are already considered vulnerable? This article addresses this important question by synthesizing information about what makes seven particular groups vulnerable, the challenges to increasing their resilience and how animals figure in their lives. It concludes that animal attachment could provide a novel conduit for accessing, communicating with and motivating vulnerable people to engage in resilience building behaviors that promote survival and facilitate recovery. Abstract Increased vulnerability to natural disasters has been associated with particular groups in the community. This includes those who are considered de facto vulnerable (children, older people, those with disabilities etc.) and those who own pets (not to mention pets themselves). The potential for reconfiguring pet ownership from a risk factor to a protective factor for natural disaster survival has been recently proposed. But how might this resilience-building proposition apply to vulnerable members of the community who own pets or other animals? This article addresses this important question by synthesizing information about what makes particular groups vulnerable, the challenges to increasing their resilience and how animals figure in their lives. Despite different vulnerabilities, animals were found to be important to the disaster resilience of seven vulnerable groups in Australia. Animal attachment and animal-related activities and networks are identified as underexplored devices for disseminating or ‘piggybacking’ disaster-related information and engaging vulnerable people in resilience building behaviors (in addition to including animals in disaster planning initiatives in general). Animals may provide the kind of innovative approach required to overcome the challenges in accessing and engaging vulnerable groups. As the survival of humans and animals are so often intertwined, the benefits of increasing the resilience of vulnerable communities through animal attachment is twofold: human and animal lives can be saved together.

An Experience Sampling Approach to Investigating Associations between Pet Presence and Indicators of Psychological Wellbeing and Mood in Older Australians

ABSTRACT In this study we examined associations between pet ownership and presence and indicators of psychological wellbeing in older Australians, using an innovative, experience sampling methodology and a community-living sample of 68 adults, including 41 pet owners, all aged over 65 years. In response to randomized prompts the participants provided information about their location, social companions, activities, and mood state six times daily for seven consecutive days. They also completed a number of surveys measuring various aspects of wellbeing. There were no significant differences in our outcome measures between pet owners and those who did not own at least one pet, and few of our pet owners reported engaging in pet-focused human– animal activities, such as walking their dog or playing with their cat. However, frequency of pet presence during activities of daily living was associated with, and statistically predictive of, several measures of wellbeing and mood. From our results we tentatively conclude that more frequent presence of a pet, particularly a dog, may be associated with greater psychological wellbeing in this cohort. More importantly, we confirm that the intensive experience sampling methodology provides a novel means of examining human–pet interactions, enabling a closer analysis of moment-by-moment pet presence than has been possible using alternative approaches.

Animal Ownership Among Vulnerable Populations in Regional South Australia: Implications for Natural Disaster Preparedness and Resilience.

Context: Few studies have examined the prevalence of animal ownership among populations likely to be at greater risk from disaster events within a bushfire context. Objective: To investigate the proportion of vulnerable community members keeping animals and the types of animals kept, as well as perceived risk of harm to pets, and their inclusion in bushfire survival planning. Design: Statewide anonymous online survey in 2014 of adult South Australian animal owners threatened by bushfire in January 2014. Respondents were asked about animal ownership, their bushfire risk perception, and household survival planning. Descriptive statistics are presented for 5 groups considered likely to contribute to increased risk of harm for households: linguistically diverse, older adults, families with young children, physically frail, and self-identifying disabled, as well as individuals with mental health considerations. Setting: An opt-in purposively targeted sample of anonymous South Australians living in high fire-risk locations. Participants: Adult South Australian animal owners threatened or directly impacted by bushfire events, including individuals matching 1 of the 5 vulnerable groups. Main Outcome Measures: Self-reported details of animal ownership, perceived fire risk, survival planning, and vulnerability characteristics. Results: Animal ownership was found to be more prevalent in these 5 populations than in the wider South Australian population. Perceived risk to pets was low to moderately low in these individuals. Variation was observed in the role of animals generally and pets specifically as motivators for preparing bushfire survival plans. Conclusions: Emergency services and associated agencies need to consider how the unique needs of vulnerable populations that keep animals, and their potential differences in risk perception, relate to their bushfire survival planning and preparedness requirements.

It comes with the job: work organizational, job design, and self-regulatory barriers to improving the health status of train drivers

Objective: This study aimed to examine the impacts of key barriers to improving the occupational health status of Australian train drivers. Methods: From May to June, 2015, five semi-structured qualitative focus groups were conducted with 29 train drivers from South Australian, Victorian, and New South Wales-based rail organizations in Australia. Results: Occupational health was impeded by multiple barriers regarding sleep (patterns/fatigue), diet (planning/context), mental health (occupational stress), rostering (low autonomy), sedentary time, low fitness motivation, and family/social life conflicts. Work organizational barriers included communication issues, low organizational support, and existing social norms. Job design barriers included rostering, fatigue, stimulant reliance, and family/social life imbalances. Self-regulatory barriers included dietary and exercise patterns habits and patterns. Conclusions: Occupational health interventions for Australian train drivers must address work organizational, job design, and self-regulatory barriers to healthier lifestyle behaviors.

Working around it: Rail drivers’ views on the barriers and enablers to managing workplace health

Purpose The rail driver workplace is full of challenges for effective health management. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how known barriers in rail driving may be overcome by seeking enablers of positive health status and lifestyle. Design/methodology/approach Five focus groups were conducted with 29 rail drivers from four rail organisations across three Australian states. Transcribed data were analysed using directed content analysis and thematic coding to develop health enabler themes and categories. Findings Formal initiatives to manage health were piecemeal. Efforts to maintain health involved countering deteriorative, and promoting restorative, health factors. Themes systematically illustrated work environmental, adaptational, and autonomous features of health management. Participants expressed many different approaches to enabling positive health status, and how these connected to known barriers. Research limitations/implications Discussion of personal health issues within the rail industry is considered a taboo topic by some, therefore participants who took part in this study data may be more representative of health-conscious drivers. Practical implications Occupational health in rail can be enabled in multiple ways, including: improving social support, scheduling certainty, and cross-communication around health behaviours; increasing flexibility and environmental support for health behaviours; and directly promoting dietary control and physical activity engagement. Given the diversity and global representativeness of rail systems found within Australia, the findings have international application. Originality/value This study uses a strength-focussed approach to highlight multiple leverage points for organisational rail-driver health interventions across three levels of the system, helping improve health intervention efficacy despite the intractable nature of their environments.

How can a donkey fly on the plane? The benefits and limits of animal therapy with refugees

Background Humanitarian migrants experience higher rates of mental illness than the resident population, limiting their social and economic opportunities and contributions. Effective interventions are thus critical to improve the settlement outcomes. Many therapists employ narrative and expressive therapies because of their holistic approach to both trauma and psychosocial stressors, and their benefits for working with people with limited English literacy. A potential non-language-based intervention that has been effective with other groups, but which has not yet been evaluated in relation to refugees, is animal-assisted therapy. Animal therapy has been shown to reduce social isolation, increase well-being and reduce the symptoms of anxiety and depression in general and clinical populations. However, there is a need to understand if and how these benefits apply to refugees. Methods We used open-ended questions presented in an online survey for Australian therapeutic and support practitioners working with refugees. Results We found that interactions with animals in school and community settings have positive outcomes for increasing social interaction, building trust, and reducing difficult behaviours, especially with children. Some clients are more timid around animals, and some express specific cultural concerns about the type of animal. Practitioners recommended that clients are approached individually about their views on animals prior to including animals in therapy or community activities. They also recommend avoiding assumptions about particular cultures and animals, as these are not universal. Conclusions Culturally appropriate animal therapy may thus be a complementary therapy that improves the therapeutic relationship, overall well-being, and settlement outcomes, especially with refugee children.

A Multispecies Approach to Co-Sleeping

Human sleeping arrangements have evolved over time and differ across cultures. The majority of adults share their bed at one time or another with a partner or child, and many also sleep with pets. In fact, around half of dog and cat owners report sharing a bed or bedroom with their pet(s). However, interspecies co-sleeping has been trivialized in the literature relative to interpersonal or human-human co-sleeping, receiving little attention from an interdisciplinary psychological perspective. In this paper, we provide a historical outline of the “civilizing process” that has led to current sociocultural conceptions of sleep as an individual, private function crucial for the functioning of society and the health of individuals. We identify similar historical processes at work in the formation of contemporary constructions of socially normative sleeping arrangements for humans and animals. Importantly, since previous examinations of co-sleeping practices have anthropocentrically framed this topic, the result is an incomplete understanding of co-sleeping practices. By using dogs as an exemplar of human-animal co-sleeping, and comparing human-canine sleeping with adult-child co-sleeping, we determine that both forms of co-sleeping share common factors for establishment and maintenance, and often result in similar benefits and drawbacks. We propose that human-animal and adult-child co-sleeping should be approached as legitimate and socially relevant forms of co-sleeping, and we recommend that co-sleeping be approached broadly as a social practice involving relations with humans and other animals. Because our proposition is speculative and derived from canine-centric data, we recommend ongoing theoretical refinement grounded in empirical research addressing co-sleeping between humans and multiple animal species.

Safety for Industry, Threat for Drivers? Insights into the Current Utility of Heath Assessments for Rail

The rail driver workplace is full of challenges for effective health management, posing a significant threat to the sustainability of the industry. In Australia, train drivers undergo periodic health assessment as part of a nationally standardised approach to reducing sudden incapacitation risk; however, studies suggest that the current assessment protocol is not operating as effectively as they might. To improve this, there is a need to understand the experiences of drivers undergoing workplace health assessments, and how they engage with them.

Archetyping relationships with companion animals to understand disaster risk-taking propensity

Abstract Pets factor into the daily decision-making of many people. Importantly, various characteristics of these human–animal relationships are known to strongly influence pet owners’ risk behaviour and, consequently, their animals’ welfare during disasters. Yet, few studies have examined a range of such characteristics concurrently in order to describe risk propensity differences in these relationships. In this study, 437 Australian companion-animal (pet) owners reported human–animal relational, personality and attitudinal characteristics, to examine differences in stated tendency to act to secure their pet’s welfare whilst risking potential harm in a hypothetical disaster dilemma. Cluster analysis identified five archetypal profiles differing in relational, personality, attitude and risk-propensity characteristics, as well as in stated willingness to risk personal safety for the well-being of a pet. Results suggest that relational archetypes are an effective means of examining pet–owner risk propensity, to better understand owners’ risk-taking to protect their animals from harm during a disaster.