Abstract
Youth facing homelessness, specifically those who own nonhuman companion animals (NCAs), are an understudied population with little published literature examining the evidence-informed supports that exist within their communities. Accordingly, a scoping review was conducted to address the question: (a) what community supports exist in Canada for youth experiencing homelessness and their animal companions, and (b) what gaps in both supporting youth and/or supporting their animal companions exist amongst the organizations providing these initiatives? Academic articles published between January 2010 and August 2022 were reviewed. Three databases were searched for relevant articles: PubMed, Web of Science, and EBSCOhost. This search returned 546 articles, of which 56 sources satisfied the inclusion criteria. Data was then extracted and analyzed using a thematic analysis framework. The following themes were uncovered using deductive reasoning: lack of support for marginalized youth (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and two-spirit [LGBTQ2S+] youth, etc.), negative experiences with the shelter system, and need for harm reduction-focused services. NCA ownership was a less frequently studied theme and only appeared in two of the 56 studies. This scoping review aims to identify gaps in the literature and encourage further research on the existing community-based programming within Canada for youth facing homelessness with animal companions.
Published Version
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