The Impact of the Social Determinants of Human Health on Companion Animal Welfare
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Date
2023
Authors
McDowall, S.
Hazel, S.
Chittleborough, C.
Hamilton-Bruce, A.
Stuckey, R.
Howell, T.
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Journal article
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Animals, 2023; 13(6):1113-1-1113-18
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Sonya McDowall, Susan J. Hazel, Catherine Chittleborough, Anne Hamilton-Bruce, Rwth Stuckey, and Tiffani J. Howell
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Abstract
The social determinants of health (SDH) focus on the social, physical and economic factors that impact human health. Studies have revealed that animal guardians face a range of challenges in attaining positive welfare outcomes for their companion animals, which can be influenced by socioeconomic and environmental factors. Despite this, there is a lack of research specifically exploring the relationship between SDH and animal welfare outcomes. Given that the SDH impact on humans, which in turn directly impacts on their companion animal, it is important to adapt an SDH framework for companion animal welfare by characterising the impact of the SDH on companion animal guardians in their attempts to care for their animals and, by extension, the associated welfare outcomes. This paper explores how these human health determinants may impact animal welfare and the possible challenges that may arise for the guardian when attempting to meet their companion animal’s welfare needs. By integrating the SDH with other key frameworks, including the five domains model of animal welfare, through multidisciplinary collaboration, this framework can be used to inform future programs aiming to improve animal welfare.
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© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).