The positive impact of volunteering on health

01/03/2017

1:

Volunteering is Associated with Decreased Risk for Cognitive impairment," Infurna, F. J., Okun, M. A., & Grimm, K. J. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2016 DOI: 10.1111/jgs.14398 (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Frank_Infurna/publication/298354204_Volunteering_is_associated_with_decreased_risk_for_cognitive_impairment/links/56e8a46908ae166360e526c5.pdf?origin=publication_detail)

"Our findings suggest that consistent civic engagement in old age is associated with decreased risk of cognitive impairment and provide impetus for interventions to protect against the detrimental consequences of cognitive impairment." (Infurna et al 2016, page 2)

 

2:

Donating time to charity: working for nothing? Yu Aoki. Oxford Economic Papers (2016). DOI: 10.1093/oep/gpw048   

(http://ftp.iza.org/dp7990.pdf)

Aoki compares municipalities which were impacted by a 1995 earthquake in Japan with those that were not impacted. The impacted municipalities had over 1.3 million people volunteering with 70% doing so for the first time.

" Based on a comparison of mortality between the municipalities with no or little loss of life due to the earthquake, that experienced the sharp increase in the level of volunteering, and the nearby municipalities that were not hit by the earthquake, I find that volunteering significantly reduced elderly mortality." (Aoki, from Abstract)

3.

Association of volunteering with mental well-being: a life course analysis of a national population based longitudinal study in the UK, Tabassum F., Mohan J., Smith P. BMJ Open, DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-011327

(http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/8/e011327.full)

"When not considering age, those who engaged in volunteering regularly appeared to experience higher levels of mental well-being than those who never volunteered." …

"The association between volunteering and well-being did not emerge during early adulthood to mid-adulthood, instead becoming apparent above the age of 40 years and continuing up to old age." (Tabassum et al 2016, from Abstract)

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