Volunteering benefits elderly and society
Why older people should volunteer
Research has shown that for older adults, volunteering can be an important mechanism for meeting new people and extending connections
Whilst there are undoubtedly many social opportunities for older people in which they can interact, volunteering is able to provide a much broader and more diverse network of interactions than other types of social activities
Volunteers make contacts with people on a number of different levels, as they are able to make social ties with:
- other volunteers
- with any clients they may serve
- with the staff of host organisations for which they volunteer (Lee, 2008)
One of the other positive benefits of volunteering is that there is also scope for older people to engage in physical activities, to experience themselves in productive roles and to increase social contacts.
Volunteer programmes must recognise the contribution older people can make
Whilst some features of volunteer programmes may be as important for younger volunteers as for older ones, older people have different physical and psychological needs and motivations for volunteering than younger generations (Adler, 2002)
As a result, some special considerations are important when designing a successful volunteer programme for older adults
Effective volunteer programmes are designed for the elderly population, so that they can contribute to successful ageing, ensuring that older people are viewed as a skilled, valuable untapped resource
Many older volunteers possess profound knowledge and experience that can be utilised for a variety of worthy causes and organisations
Some volunteer programmes for older adults try to match the skills of volunteers with appropriate opportunities and activities and this trend is becoming more common
Programmes which successfully utilise the skill sets that older volunteers possess focus on the broader leadership role of older volunteers in helping organisations and communities
The successful programmes are more likely to :
• Provide volunteer opportunities that attract the older population
• Use measurable programme outcomes
• Provide formal orientation and training
• Require a time commitment
• Provide adequate support and recognition for volunteers
• Have diverse funding sources (Lee, 2008)
In addition, these programmes need to have staff and leadership who are trained and experienced in managing and working with older volunteers to ensure they are able to offer significant health benefits to older participants
Lee’s research says that we can view the older adult population narrowly, as consumers or users of social services, or we can broaden our perspective to consider and respect the older population, considering them to be assets
These are a people who are ready to help themselves and are willing to contribute to society through volunteering, as part of their journey in successful and healthy ageing
Similarly, researcher Colin Rochester conducted a study entitled ‘A Review of the Home Office Older Volunteers Initiative’ in 2002 and made suggestions for successful implementation
These included ensuring that operationally volunteer-involving organisations should not assume that just because people are retired, they have unlimited spare time to be dedicated entirely to volunteering. He states that ‘opportunities for volunteering by older people need to be flexible to take account of other commitments’ and that they ‘should be as diverse as possible and not constrained by preconceptions of “appropriate” tasks for older volunteers
Whilst older people may wish to spend some of their free time undertaking voluntary activity, they may also like to spend time on other activities that they may have been unable to do whilst in full time employment pre-retirement
Some people like to plan long holidays, travelling the world, visiting exotic locations, or may be able to pursue hobbies that they were unable to devote as much time to whilst in employment
Organisations that involve older volunteers must be able to recognise that the volunteer’s spare time is a gift and not a given. They should not assume that older volunteers have ample time to give and that this contribution is unlimited. Older volunteers must also not feel obliged to take on more volunteering than they wish to within their time
The older adult population provide a significant resource and offer an important opportunity for non-profit organisations to utilise their experience and skills
Efforts should be made to develop appropriate volunteering solutions that can attract and retain such valuable assets
Volunteering has been said to provide a meaningful role and sense of purpose in life, it helps to raise confidence and self-esteem, by providing an’ other-centred’ focus, associated with personal agency and control. Volunteering in later life is also important for positive human development and as a social activity can combat social isolation and loneliness (Warburton, 2006)
Some research has shown a causal path between their volunteering activities and better health. Thus from that perspective, volunteering is good for your health, especially in later life
Taking this one step further there was some research (Warburton, 2006) which attempted to explore this relationship further. The aim was to see how older people themselves experience and interpret the association
Using qualitative data from focus groups, researchers explored why it is that older people feel that volunteering impacts on their health in later life
Six potential explanations were provided:
1. Volunteering provides volunteers with a positive self-identity and sense of purpose that might otherwise be absent from their lives. This absence may be a result of the losses associated with ageing, e.g. loss of work, primary caring responsibilities, even partners and friends
2. Volunteering raises confidence and self-esteem, providing volunteers with a sound psychological basis and approach to life
3. Helping in the community gives people an external focus, and takes the attention away from their own personal concerns
4. Volunteering is associated strongly with personal agency and sense of control, as it is an activity that older people can choose to do or not do
5. Volunteering is associated with positive human development through giving back to the community, via a generative response
6. Volunteering and community involvement have a strong social dimension, which can counter potential loneliness and social isolation, as well as help to provide mutual, functional support
A recent WRVS report, published in May 2012, also found that self-reported health was also strongly related to volunteering, with increases in health related to increases in likelihood of being a volunteer
Fewer people with bad health volunteered, whereas more than two in five of those with the best health reported volunteering
Although it is important to note that whilst volunteering is said to be good for health, this was unrelated to the frequency of volunteering
The report also noted that for each of the well-being outcomes, there was a strong positive effect of volunteering on subsequent well-being, such as the decline in the depression and social isolation scores
There were also increases in quality of life and life satisfaction scores), and this effect was shown to remain even after adjusting for demographic factors
It was also reported that appreciated volunteers have an improvement in their well-being over time compared with non-volunteers, which is not the case for unappreciated volunteers. However, in no case is there a suggestion that unappreciated volunteers do worse than non- volunteers
Overall a higher frequency of volunteering also appeared to be related to better well-being for each of the well-being outcomes. For example with depression there was a clear linear relationship, with there being less depression reported for those people that had an increasing frequency of volunteering
Volunteering England is an independent charity and membership organisation, committed to supporting, enabling and celebrating volunteering in all its diversity. Together with the Institute of Volunteering Research we have conducted research to assess the benefits of volunteering in specific relation to older adults
References
- Voluntary Action: The Journal of the Institute for Volunteering Research Volume: 9 Number: 1 The impact of volunteering on successful ageing: a review with implications for programme design
Lee © Institute for Volunteering, Research 2008
http://www.ivr.org.uk/component/ivr/the-impact-of-volunteering-on-successful-ageing
- Voluntary Action: The Journal of the Institute for Volunteering Research Volume: 8 Number: 2 ‘Volunteering in later life: is it good for your health?’
Warburton © Institute for Volunteering Research 2006
WRVS Report May 2012, The impact of volunteering on well-being in later life, Prof Nazroo & Katey Matthews
A Review of the Home Office Older Volunteers Initiative, 2002, Rochester et al.,
http://library.npia.police.uk/docs/hors/hors248.pdf
