{"id":3699,"date":"2025-11-22T14:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T04:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?p=3699"},"modified":"2025-12-12T14:03:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T04:03:32","slug":"calls-for-aged-care-pet-access","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?p=3699","title":{"rendered":"Calls for aged care pet access"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>New national data has again confirmed what most Australians already know: pets matter deeply to people at every stage of life, including in aged care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to&nbsp;Companion Animal Network Australia\u2019s (Australia CAN or CANA)&nbsp;latest&nbsp;<em>Pet Friendly Aged Care Survey 2025<\/em>, an overwhelming&nbsp;96 per cent of Australians believe residents in aged care should be allowed to keep their pets, yet most facilities across the country still prohibit them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe emotional harm of being forced to give up a beloved animal is profound,\u201d says&nbsp;Trish Ennis, CEO of CANA. \u201cOlder Australians shouldn\u2019t have to choose between care and companionship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>CANA\u2019s 2025 survey drew&nbsp;2,846 responses&nbsp;\u2013 more than double that of 2023 \u2013 yet the results remain largely unchanged. While&nbsp;86%&nbsp;of respondents said pets in aged care are&nbsp;<em>\u201cvitally important\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;78 per cent&nbsp;agreed that pets improve both physical and mental health,&nbsp;only 18 per cent of facilities currently allow residents to keep animals, according to external data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBoth facilities and residents understand how important pets are to health and happiness, but the sector still struggles to turn that understanding into action,\u201d Ennis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As in previous years, the 2025 survey found&nbsp;companionship and reduced loneliness&nbsp;remain the most valued benefits of pet ownership for older Australians. Yet for those receiving in-home aged care, access to pet-related support remains minimal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of the 325 respondents currently receiving government-funded&nbsp;Home Care Packages (HCPs), only&nbsp;nine per cent&nbsp; reported receiving any assistance with pet care&nbsp;from their service provider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The most requested forms of support were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Emergency fostering\u00a0(91 per cent)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dog walking\u00a0(64 per cent)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Transport to veterinary appointments\u00a0(59 per cent)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Concerningly,&nbsp;22 per cent of respondents said they had&nbsp;delayed their own medical care&nbsp;because there was no one available to look after their pet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) and HCP should include provisions for pet care,\u201d Ennis said. \u201cDoing so would help people stay healthy and at home for longer, while preventing animals from being euthanised or surrendered to shelters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aged care providers surveyed by CANA identified a lack of&nbsp;education (45 per cent),&nbsp;resources (42 per cent), and&nbsp;funding for facility design changes (45 per cent)&nbsp;as key barriers to becoming more pet inclusive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEducation and understanding are key,\u201d Ennis said. \u201cFacilities that welcome pets see happier residents, stronger family connections and greater community engagement. It\u2019s not just good welfare; it\u2019s good business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through its&nbsp;Pet Friendly Aged Care&nbsp;initiative, CANA provides practical tools \u2013 including sample policies, risk assessments and best-practice guidelines \u2013 to help providers integrate pets safely and compassionately into both residential and in-home care settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs our population ages, keeping people and pets together is an essential part of maintaining both physical and mental health,\u201d Ennis said. \u201cThe evidence is clear: pets are good for people. Now it\u2019s time for aged care to catch up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The 2023 Pet Friendly Aged Care Survey was based on 1,130 participants, including older adults, aged care staff and members of the public. The most comprehensive data on pet-friendly aged care facilities to date \u2013 conducted by the Stafford Group in 2018 \u2013 found only 18 per cent of 2,933 facilities allowed residents to keep pets. Home Care Packages (HCPs) will transition to the Support at Home program from 1 November 2025, replacing both HCP and Short-Term Restorative Care programs.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New national data has again confirmed what most Australians already know: pets matter deeply to people at every stage of life, including in aged care. According to&nbsp;Companion Animal Network Australia\u2019s (Australia CAN or CANA)&nbsp;latest&nbsp;Pet Friendly Aged Care Survey 2025, an overwhelming&nbsp;96 per cent of Australians believe residents in aged care should be allowed to keep [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[3841,3840,3220,3843,3361,3844,3839,3838,3846,3842,3264,3847,3845,3849],"class_list":["post-3699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-agedcare","tag-agedcarepolicy","tag-australiacan","tag-communitywellbeing","tag-humananimalbond","tag-keeppeopletogether","tag-mentalhealthsupport","tag-olderaustralians","tag-petcompanion","tag-petfriendlyagedcare","tag-petownership","tag-petsandhealth","tag-physicalhealthbenefits","tag-supportathome"],"rise-blocks_total_comments":0,"rise-blocks_categories":[{"term_id":5,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":403,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":5,"category_count":403,"category_description":"","cat_name":"News","category_nicename":"news","category_parent":0}],"rise-blocks_excerpt":"New national data has again confirmed what most Australians already know: pets matter deeply to people at every stage of life, including in aged care. According to&nbsp;Companion Animal Network Australia\u2019s (Australia CAN or CANA)&nbsp;latest&nbsp;Pet Friendly Aged Care Survey 2025, an overwhelming&nbsp;96 per cent of Australians believe residents in aged care should be allowed to keep their pets, yet most facilities..","blog_post_layout_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Trish-Ennis-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"full":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Trish-Ennis.jpg",1024,748,false]},"categories_names":{"5":{"name":"News","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?cat=5"}},"tags_names":{"3841":{"name":"#agedcare","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=agedcare"},"3840":{"name":"#agedcarepolicy","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=agedcarepolicy"},"3220":{"name":"#AustraliaCAN","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=australiacan"},"3843":{"name":"#communitywellbeing","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=communitywellbeing"},"3361":{"name":"#HumanAnimalBond","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=humananimalbond"},"3844":{"name":"#keeppeopletogether","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=keeppeopletogether"},"3839":{"name":"#mentalhealthsupport","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=mentalhealthsupport"},"3838":{"name":"#olderaustralians","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=olderaustralians"},"3846":{"name":"#petcompanion","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=petcompanion"},"3842":{"name":"#petfriendlyagedcare","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=petfriendlyagedcare"},"3264":{"name":"#PetOwnership","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=petownership"},"3847":{"name":"#petsandhealth","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=petsandhealth"},"3845":{"name":"#physicalhealthbenefits","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=physicalhealthbenefits"},"3849":{"name":"#supportathome","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=supportathome"}},"comments_number":"0","wpmagazine_modules_lite_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Trish-Ennis-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"cvmm-medium":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Trish-Ennis-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"cvmm-medium-plus":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Trish-Ennis-305x207.jpg",305,207,true],"cvmm-portrait":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Trish-Ennis-400x600.jpg",400,600,true],"cvmm-medium-square":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Trish-Ennis-600x600.jpg",600,600,true],"cvmm-large":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Trish-Ennis.jpg",1024,748,false],"cvmm-small":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Trish-Ennis-130x95.jpg",130,95,true],"full":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Trish-Ennis.jpg",1024,748,false]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3699"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3701,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3699\/revisions\/3701"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}