Pet Histories and Wellbeing

宠物历史和健康项目将与家庭博物馆和蓝十字慈善机构合作，从AHRC宠物和家庭生活项目中开展关于宠物及其主人健康的研究。家庭博物馆是唯一一个深入探索家庭理念的国家博物馆。蓝十字是一个全国性的慈善机构，它帮助生病、受伤、被遗弃和无家可归的宠物，并为现在或未来的宠物主人提供建议和教育，以及宠物丧亲之痛和支持。2021年，博物馆将举办一场关于宠物历史的临时展览，为一个相关项目寻求资金，该项目将把合作伙伴聚集在一起，探索过去和现在的宠物和健康。此次合作将产生与展览同时进行的创意产出和公众参与活动，以及一些永久性产出。宠物是英国社会、文化和经济的重要组成部分。2019年，英国政府和PDSA的一份报告估计，50%的英国成年人拥有宠物。宠物是家庭生活的一部分，也是英国经济的重要组成部分。2019年，宠物家居店报告半年税前利润为4500万英镑。与此同时，在人们获得服务和公众对话方面，精神卫生意识是前所未有的。据估计，英国每年大约有四分之一的人患有心理健康问题，心理健康问题是英国残疾的最大单一原因。最近的研究表明，宠物与人类健康之间存在着密切的联系。2019年蓝十字会的一份报告发现，宠物可以通过提供爱和陪伴、增加社交互动、激励、锻炼和分散注意力来帮助有心理健康问题的人。在2020-2021年期间，蓝十字会将开展一项运动，以提高公众和政策制定者对宠物在促进福祉方面潜在作用的认识。从2020年开始，MoTH将举办一个健康季，该项目将与之挂钩。宠物与他们的监护人建立强烈情感依恋的能力也是宠物和家庭生活项目的一个主要主题——尽管物种受欢迎程度、宠物饲养习惯和文化框架随着时间的推移而改变，但对动物的情感投资却有显著的长期连续性。历史研究有力地支持了宠物可以对个人幸福做出重大贡献的论点。将开发历史解释和档案材料，为一系列活动和产出提供创意基础，包括：一部探索过去和现在有精神健康状况的宠物之间关系的电影；一个身临其境的环境，再现了动物在家中的存在；一个辩论论坛，从当代和历史的角度探讨主人和宠物的幸福；为提高动物福利意识而设计的展览解说方案；学校自助游；儿童暑期狗狗读书会；当地历史悠久的观鸟之旅和临时宠物丧亲咖啡馆。历史学家还将与博物馆合作，提高永久收藏动物的形象，一些产出将供长期使用。

The Pet Histories and Wellbeing Project will develop research from the AHRC Pets and Family Life Project in the context of debates on the wellbeing of pets and their owners, in collaboration with the Museum of the Home and the charity Blue Cross. The Museum of the Home is the only national museum to explore the idea of the home in critical depth. The Blue Cross is a national charity that helps sick, injured, abandoned and homeless pets and offers advice and education for current or future pet owners and pet bereavement and support. In 2021 the museum will stage a temporary exhibition on the history of pets - funding is sought for a linked project that will bring the partners together to explore pets and wellbeing in the past and present. The collaboration will produce creative outputs and public engagement activities that will sit alongside the exhibition, and some permanent outputs.Pets are an important part of Britain's society, culture and economy. In 2019 a UK Gov and PDSA report estimated that 50% of UK adults owned a pet. Pets are part of family life, but they are also an important part of the British economy. In 2019, the store Pets at Home reported half-year pre-tax profits of £45 million. Meanwhile, mental health awareness is unprecedented both in terms of people accessing services and public dialogue. It is estimated that approximately one in four people in the UK will suffer a mental health problem each year and that mental health problems are the largest single cause of disability in the UK. Recent research has demonstrated a strong link between pet animals and human wellbeing. A 2019 Blue Cross Report found that pets can help people with mental health conditions by offering love and company, increased social interaction, motivation, exercise and distraction. During 2020-2021 Blue Cross will run a campaign to raise awareness amongst the public and policy makers of the potential role of pets in contributing to wellbeing. MoTH is running a Wellbeing Season from 2020 which the project will link to. The capacity of pets to forge strong emotional attachments with their guardians is also a major theme of the Pets and Family Life Project - while species popularity, pet keeping practices and cultural framing changed over time, there was significant long-term continuity in emotional investment in animals. The historical research strongly supports the contention that pets can make a significant contribution to individual wellbeing. Historical interpretation and archival materials will be developed to provide the creative basis for a series of activities and outputs including: a film exploring the relationship between pets people with mental health conditions in the past and present; an immersive environment recreating the presence of animals in the home; a debate forum exploring the wellbeing of both owners and pets in contemporary and historic perspectives; an interpretation plan for the exhibition designed to raise awareness of animal welfare; a self-guided tour for schools; summer holiday reading groups with dogs for children; historic birding tours of the local area and a pop-up pet bereavement café. The historians will also work with the museum on raising the profile of animals in the permanent collections, and some outputs will be available for longer term use.