Understanding pet impacts on quality of life and loneliness: A mixed-methods study in a public housing setting

Abstract

Background : Pets play an important role in the lives of pet families, yet their impacts within low-income communities remain largely underexamined. Guided by a One Health framework, this mixed-methods study examined how living with pets influences quality of life (QoL) and loneliness among residents in three income-restricted, multifamily housing communities in the Southeastern United States, two of which primarily serve older adults and individuals with disabilities. Methods : Quantitative survey data ( n  = 282) were integrated with qualitative focus groups ( n = 69) to assess standardized QoL and loneliness measures along with residents’ lived experiences. Results : Quantitative analyses revealed no statistically significant differences in QoL or loneliness scores between residents with and without pets. However, those with pets who had experienced a barrier to veterinary care had lower overall QoL scores than those who had not experienced a barrier. Residents with pets reported more days of poor mental health in the past month, even after adjusting for education, building, age group, and gender. In contrast, the qualitative findings highlighted profound perceived benefits of pets, including emotional support and stability, companionship, purpose, safety, motivation for physical activity, and mitigation of loneliness and isolation. While pets provided substantial support, residents also reported difficulties affording and accessing veterinary care and making trade-offs between their own basic needs and caring for their pets. Conclusions : These mixed results reveal a potential disconnect between standardized well-being measures and lived experiences, suggesting that existing instruments may not fully capture pet-related benefits. Furthermore, the benefits associated with pets cannot mitigate the structural and social drivers of health faced by residents; in fact, these factors also hinder pet care. Results underscore the interconnectedness of human and animal well-being, the importance of treating the pet as part of the household, and the need to develop context-sensitive measures within human-animal interaction research.