Animal-assisted wellness and mindfulness — cat’s company beats loneliness in left-behind elderly

How hard it is for grandparents to have their children and grandchildren emigrate. “My friend’s grandmother has always been cheerful; even after her granddaughter’s emigration, she stayed strong, but she burst into tears while petting a cat, and told us that she missed them,” said Hannah, the founder of social enterprise PETVOLUTION. Her story is one of the many in Hong Kong.

With the emigration wave, elderly people that are left behind in Hong Kong struggle to find their voice. “Sudden changes in life can aggravate loneliness and cause mental health issues, if emotions are not channelled in time.” Hannah explained that the source of loneliness is not just separation, but also the loss of routine of taking care of grandchildren, or when forced to downsize their homes or relocate from familiar neighborhoods.. There are services on the market that offer video-conferencing tutorials, medical escort and home care services to these elderly people, but little on emotional support. “We all know prevention is better than cure.”

Hannah has held animal-assisted services for teenagers before, so when she saw the drastic increase in left-behind elderly, it came to her mind that animals can also help them. “Research shows that spending 5 to 24 minutes with animals can induce three kinds of happy hormones, including oxytocin, which is powerful yet hard to obtain by yourself.” Oxytocin is also known as “love hormone”, which helps people build trust, overcome social anxiety, and express themselves at ease. “Besides providing aid to people, we also hope to save animals in the community.” There are many cats/dogs waiting homes available for adoption, which can offer companionship. Through interacting with the elderly, they would gain trust in humans. Cats/dogs that are willing to get close to people have a greater chance of being adopted, that is a win-win for both. 

With this idea, Hannah participated in the bootcamp of Impact Innovation Lab, and established the social innovation project “PETVOLUTION: Stay Pawsitive@HK”. “The bootcamp created a stimulating space for brainstorming, where we could meet great peers and discuss together. It is important to have companions that work towards similar goals along the way.” 

The project introduces participants to the animals in the community, while they learn about mental health and experience animal-assisted mindfulness exercises. Hannah hopes that participants can build meaningful connections with the community, and mutual support with animals in the process. The project was selected as one of the Incubatees, receiving seed funding from The Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Fund. Their team includes professionals such as social workers and psychiatrist consultants, responsible for designing experiential activities. Meanwhile, the team reaches out to elderly in need through NGOs, and gathers them at community cat shelters, to embark on an animal-assisted mindfulness journey. “The first session is like a ‘pre-trip briefing’, in which elderly and animals get to know each other, and learn how to get along.” Cats enjoy solitude, this demonstrates the state of being alone but not lonely. To address the pain points of left-behind elderly, mindfulness is incorporated into the service, so that they can practise to regulate their emotions then.

6 months in, some claimed to skip sessions, but never did; and some lacked social skills, but discovered their strengths by other participants. “Those elderly that are more reserved, passive, or unwilling to join community activities, need emotional support the most.” There are still problems to be solved, but Hannah considered this as a big first step. “I wish to do a lot more, like recruiting and training youngsters for the team, to beat loneliness with cross-generational support.” They also hope to expand their service scope and target group in the future, so that more people will enjoy company.

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Ms. Angie Zhou

Education Specialist

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Angie Zhou is an Education Specialist at MIT App Inventor. She was the founder and CEO of Dreams Come True in Shenzhen, where she developed online coding courses for kids. She also has previous curriculum development, teaching and staff training experience at First Code Academy in Hong Kong.