Looking for a New Year’s resolution that benefits everyone? Consider volunteering.
A growing body of evidence shows people who volunteer live longer, healthier lives, according to a research review of 32 studies conducted by the Corporation for National & Community Service.
The report cites evidence suggesting that volunteering enhances a person’s social networks and has a positive effect on social psychological factors, such as an individual’s sense of purpose, which in turn lead to better physical well-being.
The studies show volunteering is particularly beneficial to older individuals. Researchers suggest that may be because younger volunteers sometimes feel “obliged” to volunteer because of work or parental responsibilities, whereas older volunteers are more likely to donate their time because they find the task purposeful. A 2003 study of data from the Americans’ Changing Lives survey found a positive relationship between volunteering activities and better health outcomes among adults over the age of 60, including higher levels of self-reported health and physical functioning, and lower levels of depression.
Researchers have likewise found volunteering helps individuals with chronic or serious illness. In one study individuals suffering from chronic pain experienced a decrease in pain intensity, depression and their levels of disability when they began helping other chronic pain sufferers. Similarly, a Duke study of individuals with post-coronary artery disease, found those who volunteered after their heart attack reported less despair and depression and a greater sense of purpose in their lives.
When it comes to volunteering there’s very much a “you get more than you give,” dynamic, says Jenelen Dulemba, director of volunteer and older adult membership services at St. Elizabeth Healthcare. “That’s the message volunteers share with me all the time. That is the ‘paycheck’ of volunteering. The internal reward and satisfaction feeds your soul so to speak.”
