Volunteer Work Rejuvenates Seniors

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FRIDAY, Aug. 22, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- Volunteer work may put a shine on your golden years.

A Florida State University study found older adults who volunteer up to 100 hours a year -- that's just two or three hours a week -- live happier and healthier lives.

"Our findings support the perspective that volunteering is important in the larger context of successful aging. Engagement is the key, not necessarily the hours of engagement," researcher Jim Hinterlong, an assistant professor of social work, says in a news release.

He and his colleagues analyzed data from the Americans' Changing Lives Study. They found that 34.5 percent of adults over age 60 volunteered for an average of 71.5 hours per year.

Those older adults who volunteered were most likely to give their time to programs sponsored by religious institutions.

The study found the older adults who volunteered had better assessments than non-volunteers on three measures of well-being: functional status, self-rated health, and depression.

The positive impact of volunteering reached its maximum at 100 hours per year. After that point, higher levels of volunteer involvement weren't associated with significantly higher gains in well-being.

"Volunteering has an effect beyond increasing the number of friends. From the role-enhancement perspective, the volunteer role may augment power, prestige and resources, and it might heighten the sense of identity," the researchers write.

The study appears in a recent issue of the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences.

More information

Here's where older adults can get more information about volunteering.