At the COVID pandemic’s seeming height, social media were filled with images and stories of people adopting pets. Individuals who might not have had time for a dog or a cat before lockdown suddenly did. Needing to walk a dog also gave people a reason to leave their homes at regular intervals. For some older adults with dogs, those regular strolls around the neighborhood may have helped keep them from having increased feelings of loneliness.
Director of the Claude Pepper Center, Dr. Dawn Carr discusses the impact of dog walking on the experience of loneliness for older adults during COVID with Rosemary Pennington and Dr. John Bailer, emeritus professor of statistics at Miami University. Stats and Stories is a production of Miami University’s Department of Statistics and media, journalism and film, as well as the American Statistical Association.
