How Students Can Combat Being Homesick by Having a Therapy Pet

therapy pug

If you've ever been far from home long enough, you might have experienced homesickness. That feeling of sadness and longing for your home can really creep in and affect your mood! Well, a therapy pet has shown to improve feelings of homesickness in students! Find out how these furry friends helped some homesick students!

The study shows that animal-assisted therapy can help students combat homesickness and could be a useful tool in lowering post-secondary drop-out rates.

“Transitioning from high school to university can prove to be a challenge for many first-year students,” says Assistant Professor John Tyler Binfet of UBC's Okanagan campus.

“Given that students who experience homesickness are more likely than their non-homesick cohorts to drop out of university, universities have a vested interest in supporting students during their first-year transition.”

Participants who completed the eight-week program experienced significant reductions in homesickness and greater increase in satisfaction with life.

A total of 29 per cent of students who dropped out cited more interactions and friendships with other students as a factor that would have influenced their decision to stay longer.

“Moving to a new city, I did not know anyone at the university and became very homesick and depressed,” says UBC Okanagan student Varenka Kim. “I was mainly secluded in my dorm room and did not feel like I belonged here. Coming to animal assisted therapy sessions every Friday gave me a sense of purpose and kept me enthusiastic about life.”

That's pretty incredible, right?! The fact that many students were able to feel more satisfied and better adjusted to their new lives in college thanks to a furry friend is really amazing!

For more on this study, visit Science Daily.



Add Comment