Is unwilling volunteering protective for functional decline? The interactive effects of volunteer willingness and engagement on health in a 3‐year longitudinal study of Japanese older adults

Abstract

Aim The present study explored the interactive effects of willingness to volunteer and actual volunteer engagement on the maintenance of functional health among older Japanese adults, using data from a 3‐year longitudinal study. Methods We used data from the 3‐year longitudinal Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Longitudinal Interdisciplinary Study on Aging (1997). We examined 676 older adults aged >65 years from the rural Nangai District who were independent in their basic activities of daily living (BADL). A follow‐up study was carried out in 2000. We categorized participants into four groups: “willing volunteers,” “unwilling volunteers,” “willing non‐volunteers” and “unwilling non‐volunteers.” Logistic regression analyses were carried out to evaluate the interactive effects of willingness to volunteer and actual engagement in volunteering at baseline on BADL decline over a 3‐year period. Results During the follow‐up period, 6.6% of willing volunteers, 17.4% of unwilling volunteers, 16.3% of willing non‐volunteers and 21.0% of unwilling non‐volunteers experienced a decline in BADL. Unwilling volunteers (odds ratio [OR] 2.88, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.29–6.43) and both non‐volunteer groups (willing: OR 2.70, 95% CI 1.28–5.72; unwilling: OR 2.48, 95% CI 1.32–4.64) had significantly higher odds of BADL decline than did willing volunteers. When unwilling non‐volunteer was set as the reference, the OR of unwilling volunteers became 1.16 (95% CI 0.55–2.49), suggesting that unwilling volunteers had a similar odds of BADL decline as non‐volunteers. Conclusion Volunteer activity is effective for preventing BADL decline only for those who willingly engage. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2019; 19: 673–678.

Subgroup characteristics of the association between volunteering and the risk of functional disability among older Japanese people: The Tsurugaya project

“…Third, whether the volunteering status changed during the observational period is unknown in this study; thus, future studies require a research design that uni es changes in volunteering status, such as that described by Carr et al 13 . Fourth, confounders reported in previous studies, such as willingness to volunteer 27 or income level 12 , were not measured, which could weaken the association observed in this study. Future studies need to consider these confounders.…”

Physical, social, and dietary behavioral changes during the COVID-19 crisis and their effects on functional capacity in older adults

“…Interpretation of the results of social participation requires caution, as our results showed a significant relationship between positive changes in social participation and decline in functional capacity. The effects of social participation could depend on the type of social activity ( Abe et al, 2022 ; Kanamori et al, 2014 ), and unwilling social participation may have negative effects ( Nonaka et al, 2019 ). Not considering these factors in this study may have led to the unexpected results.…”

Identification of socio‐demographic, occupational, and societal factors for guiding suicide prevention: A cohort study of Swiss male workers (2000–2014)

“…Interestingly, we found no differences in socio‐demographic and occupational characteristics between volunteering and non‐volunteering participants, suggesting that volunteering it is not determined by these factors. Because volunteering is a freely chosen activity by definition and forced volunteering has no beneficial effect on health (Nonaka et al, 2019), interventions should promote volunteering to make it attractive for more working‐aged adults but not enforce it. However, an alternative explanation for this association could also be a selection effect whereby only persons with enough mental and/or economic resources engage in volunteering.…”