Volunteerism and Mortality among the Community-dwelling Elderly

Abstract

Older residents (N 5 1972) in California were investigated prospectively for association of volunteering service to others and all-cause mortality. Potential confounding factors were studied: demographics, health status, physical functioning, health habits, social support, religious involvement, and emotional states. Possible interaction effects of volunteering with religious involvement and social support were also explored. Results showed that 31 percent (n 5 630) of respondents volunteered, about half (n5289) for more than one organization. High volunteers ([.greaterequal]2 organizations) had 63 percent lower mortality than nonvolunteers (age and sex-adjusted) with relative hazard (RH) 5 0.37, confidence interval (CI) 5 0.24, 0.58. Multivariate adjustment moderately reduced difference to 44 percent (RH 5 0.56, CI 5 0.35, 0.89), mostly due to physical functioning, health habits, and social support. Unexpectedly, volunteering was slightly more protective for those with high religious involvement and perceived social support. After multivariate adjustment, any level of volunteering reduced mortality by 60 percent among weekly attenders at religious services (RH 5 0.40; CI 5 0.21,0.74). Lower mortality rates for community service volunteers were only partly explained by health habits, physical functioning, religious attendance, and social support.

Volunteering as a productive ageing activity: the association with fall-related hip fracture in later life

“…Lum and Lightfoot (2005) suggest that volunteering improves social and psychological resources and enhances an individual's capacity to cope with physical health problems. It may be too that the effect of volunteering is mediated through better perceived health (Lum and Lightfoot 2005;van Willigen 2000) and higher rates of physical activity (Luoh and Herzog 2002); it protects against cognitive decline (Zunzunegui et al 2003); or that helping others strengthens the immune system (Oman et al 1999). While restriction of activity due to previous experience of falls injury has been found in the literature (Murphy et al 2002), there was no relationship in this study between volunteering and having a history of falls or fall-related injuries (data not shown).…”

“…There are also some clear policy considerations for ageing societies across the world. It may be that productive engagement through activities such as volunteering may indeed be a health promotion and disease prevention intervention for older people (Oman et al 1999).…”

“…Findings from these studies consistently demonstrate a strong relationship between volunteering and health outcomes, even after controlling for prior health and socioeconomic status (Burr et al 2002;Hinterlong et al 2007). These outcomes include lower rates of mortality (Glass et al 1999;Oman et al 1999;Shmotkin et al 2003); higher self reported health (Lum and Lightfoot 2005;van Willigen 2000); and improved life satisfaction (Aquino et al 1996; Thoits and Hewitt 2001;van Willigen 2000). A particular dimension of this literature relates to psychological health (Greenfield and Marks 2004;Musick and Wilson 2003).…”

Volunteering by older adults and risk of mortality: A meta-analysis.

“…Researchers have reported that the relation between volunteering and mortality is (a) linear (Oman, Thoresen, & McMahon, 1999), (b) nonlinear, exhibiting a threshold effect (Luoh & Herzog, 2002), and (c) nonlinear, exhibiting a Ushaped effect (Musick, Herzog, & House, 1999). The threshold effect is based on the notion that a certain minimum amount of volunteering is required for older adults to obtain the health-related benefits.…”

Harnessing the Therapeutic Power of Volunteering

“…For example, a dozen separate studies have reported that volunteering is associated with a statistically significant lower mortality risk for those who volunteer compared to those who do not volunteer (Table 3). A meta-analysis of 5 of those studies [61][62][63][64][65] completed by Jenkinson 9 revealed a 22% lower mortality among volunteers compared to nonvolunteers. Mortality differences of that magnitude warrant our attention and further investigation for practice implications.…”