A qualitative/quantitative study of human bereavement responses to the death of an animal companion: Educational implications, resources, guidelines and strategies. (Volumes I-III)
Abstract (summary)
A voluntary sample of 65 who experienced a pet death were recruited for this qualitative-quantitative study. After unexpected illness, death, lack of consent and selective participation, 35 (7 men, 28 women) adults remained as client-care recipient/pet owner informants. They completed a 300 item forced-choice questionnaire about health issues, pet death, beliefs, and bereavement, taped interview and gestalt drawing exercise.
Twenty-one veterinarians (D.V.M.'s) (17 male, 4 female) practising in the same Windsor-Essex County area volunteered to answer an open-ended 19 question survey and record an interview about issues associated with animal death.
From 162 selected animal-affiliated support, educational, counseling, publishing/media sources, 88 responses were received from letters inquiring about resources, activities, and interest in human responses to pet death.
The SAS package was used to computerize data analysis. Significant findings at $\pm$0.001, $\pm$0.01, $\pm$0.05 were made using "r", Spearman's rank correlation, and chi square for age, health, learning, lifestyle, attitudes, self-esteem, actions before, during, and after a pet's death.
Pet owners who stated that they resolved their grief could draw the mourned pet. Unresolved grievers could not.
Qualitative methodological and hermeneutic analysis of 30 audible tapes were used to uncover semantics, trends, patterns, themes, concepts and categories associated with grief, bereavement, health, lifestyle, beliefs often consistent with quantitative findings.
Similar processes applied to D.V.M.'s tapes, and surveys showed trends, patterns, and themes of personal and professional feelings, needs, thanatology base, beliefs, values, experiences, coping practices, client support, and ideas for public education about pet death, abuse, euthanasia, population control.
Grounded in the findings, the following end products were developed: age related pamphlets; a life-span "self-help" book; teaching videotape; print, media and T.V. resource list; curriculum guide; "at-risk" client assessment list, and protocols for volunteer preparation.
The evaluation of the end products remains to be done.
Indexing (details)
Teaching;
Academic guidance counseling;
Health education;
Psychotherapy;
Curriculum development;
School counseling;
Clinical psychology
0519: School counseling
0680: Health education
0622: Clinical psychology