For many people, pets are more than a companion. They are beloved family members that provide unconditional love. Now, research has shown that pets not only provide emotional support, but might also help their owners stay healthy. A new center, which is a partnership between the Sinclair School of Nursing and the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Missouri-Columbia, will begin exploring the benefits of human-animal interaction.

"This new center will study the benefits to both animals and humans when they interact," said Rebecca Johnson, associate professor of nursing and director of the Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction (ReCHAI). "We are one of 12 centers in the United States dedicated to human-animal issues. However, our center has a different mission. While the other 11 centers are focusing on teaching, animal welfare and animal advocacy, ReCHAI is focused on research that will investigate the entire package of the human-animal interaction."

Johnson anticipates collaborating with the other centers on large-scale national research projects. One of the first studies that will be a part of ReCHAI is examining how pets respond when their owners visit them at a veterinary hospital. Johnson said they will examine data from both the patient perspective, such as how fast the patient recovers, and from the owner perspective, such as the relative health of the owner while the pet is away from the home.

One of Johnson's current studies is determining the effectiveness of pets visiting nursing homes. While pets' benefits to nursing home residents have been scientifically documented by other researchers, Johnson is examining how pets can help ease the transition from a house to a nursing home during the first six weeks after admission.

"It's amazing how animals affect our lives on an everyday basis," Johnson said. "They are a social lubricant, they love us unconditionally, and their loyalty is unsurpassed. Previous studies have shown that having these animals in our lives is good for us socially, emotionally and physically. This center will help with the advancement of that work in addition to obtaining grants to explore how we can make better use of this information to improve the quality of our lives."

The center is housed in the College of Veterinary Medicine and jointly funded through veterinary medicine and the Sinclair School of Nursing.

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