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Potential for intensive volunteering to promote the health of older adults in fair health.

ABSTRACT: Volunteer service opportunities for older adults may soon be expanded. Although volunteering is thought to provide health benefits for healthier older adults, it is not known whether older adults in less than very good health are suitable candidates for high-intensity volunteering and can derive health benefits. This manuscript presents a prospective analysis of 174 older adult volunteers serving in Experience Corps Baltimore, a high-intensity senior volunteer program in Baltimore, Maryland. Volunteers served > or =15 h per week, for a full school year, in elementary schools helping children with reading and other skills between 1999 and 2002. Volunteers were assessed with standardized questionnaires and performance-based testing including grip strength, walking speed, chair stand speed, and stair-climbing speed prior to school volunteering and at the end of the school year. Results were stratified by health status. Among 174 volunteers, 55% initially reported "good" and 12% "fair" or "poor" health status. At baseline, those in fair health reported higher frequencies of disease and disability than volunteers in excellent or very good health. After volunteering, a majority of volunteers in every baseline health status category described increased strength and energy. Those in fair health were significantly more likely to display improved stair-climbing speed than those in good or excellent/very good health (100.0% vs. 53.4% vs. 37.5%, p = 0.05), and many showed clinically significant increases in walking speed of >0.5 m/s. Satisfaction and retention rates were high for all health status groups. Clinicians should consider whether their patients in fair or good health, as well as those in better health, might benefit from high-intensity volunteer programs. Productive activity such as volunteering may be an effective community-based approach to health promotion for older adults.

SUBMITTER: Barron JS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2704275 | biostudies-other | 2009 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:RationaleAlthough observational and experimental studies have shown that volunteering is linked with better mental health, physical health, and health behaviors, no studies have examined whether volunteering is associated with patterns of health care use.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to prospectively examine whether volunteering was associated with a greater use of preventive health care services, but fewer doctor visits and nights spent in the hospital.MethodsParticipants (n = 7168) were drawn from the 2006 wave of the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative panel study of American adults over the age of 51, and tracked for one wave (2 years). Logistic regression and generalized linear models were used for analyses.ResultsIn analyses that adjusted for sociodemographic factors and baseline health, volunteers were 30% more likely to receive flu shots (OR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.16-1.47), 47% more likely to receive cholesterol tests (OR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.24-1.74); female volunteers were 53% more likely to receive mammograms/x-rays (OR = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.28-1.83) and 21% more likely to receive Pap smears (OR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.03-1.41); male volunteers were 59% more likely to receive prostate exams (OR = 1.59, 95% CI = 1.29-1.95). In a model that adjusted for sociodemographic factors, volunteers spent 38% fewer nights in the hospital (RR = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.52-0.76), however volunteering was not associated with frequency of doctor visits (RR = 0.94, 95% CI = 0.87-1.02). The association between volunteering and number of nights spent in the hospital was minimally affected after adjusting for potential confounding (baseline health) and explanatory variables (health behaviors, social integration, stress, positive psychological factors, personality).ConclusionThis is the first known study to examine the association between volunteering and health care use. If future studies replicate these findings, the results may be used to inform the development of new strategies for increasing preventive health screenings, lowering health care use and costs, and enhancing the health of older adults.

Project description:IntroductionGrowing evidence documents strong associations between volunteering and favorable health and well-being outcomes. However, epidemiological studies have not evaluated whether changes in volunteering are associated with subsequent health and well-being outcomes.MethodsData were from 12,998 participants in the Health and Retirement Study-a large, diverse, prospective, and nationally representative cohort of U.S. adults aged >50 years. Using multiple logistic, linear, and generalized linear regression models, this study evaluated if changes in volunteering (between t0, 2006/2008 and t1, 2010/2012) were associated with 34 indicators of physical health, health behaviors, and psychosocial well-being (in t2, 2014/2016). Models adjusted for sociodemographics, physical health, health behaviors, psychosocial factors, and personality, as well as volunteering and all outcomes in the prebaseline wave (t0, 2006/2008). Results accounted for multiple testing and data were analyzed in 2019.ResultsDuring the 4-year follow-up period, participants who volunteered ≥100 hours/year (versus 0 hours/year) had a reduced risk of mortality and physical functioning limitations, higher physical activity, and better psychosocial outcomes (higher: positive affect, optimism, and purpose in life; lower: depressive symptoms, hopelessness, loneliness, and infrequent contact with friends). Volunteering was not associated with other physical health outcomes (diabetes, hypertension, stroke, cancer, heart disease, lung disease, arthritis, overweight/obesity, cognitive impairment, and chronic pain), health behaviors (binge drinking, smoking, and sleep problems), or psychosocial outcomes (life satisfaction, mastery, health/financial mastery, depression, negative affect, perceived constraints, and contact with other family/children).ConclusionsWith further research, volunteering is an activity that physicians might suggest to their willing and able patients as a way of simultaneously enhancing health and society.

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Potential for intensive volunteering to promote the health of older adults in fair health.

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