Abstract
The College of Nursing, in collaboration with veterinarians and animal behaviorists, announces the development of the Human-Animal Bond Initiative. Our overall goal is to better understand the interactions between humans and animals, to assess how animals enrich our lives, and improve the quality of life for both humans and the animals.

Anyone who comes home after a hard day and is cheerfully greeted by an animal understands the power of the human-animal bond. Although well understood on a personal level, the human-animal bond has been studied scientifically on only a limited basis. Thus, our views on the power of the human-animal bond are based on anecdotal reports and personal feelings, but few scientific studies. Things we think we know or we take for granted, have never been subject to scientific validation. Without validation, it is difficult to take advantage of the bond, and incorporate the use of animals in therapeutic settings.

While other health care disciplines, such as medicine, have been primarily focused on treatment and management of disease, nursing has always had a broader bio-psycho-social framework for disease management. Nursing research seeks to understand and ease the symptoms of acute and chronic illness, to prevent or delay the onset of disease or disability, and to find effective approaches to achieving and sustaining good health. Nursing uses a holistic and comprehensive approach to health care that teaches the patient or family to follow a lifestyle that will assist in preventing, managing or coping with their disease. Since animals are now considered members of many families, it is only logical that the nurse would work towards incorporating them into total patient care.

The multidisciplinary team provides a forum for interaction, discussion, and critique, and is developing programs to study and understand the human-animal bond. It is the goal of the College of Nursing's Human-Animal Bond Initiative to develop educational, service, and research programs consistent with the land grant mission of MSU. These programs will enhance the quality of life of humans and the animals in their lives, as well as add to the empirical data on the power of the human-animal bond.