Doing Good and Feeling Good

January 28, 2009
By Johns Hopkins Health Alerts, www.johnshopkinshealthalerts.com

Volunteering doesn't just help others -- it may also benefit your health. Reviewers from the Corporation for National and Community Service (a government agency that promotes volunteerism) reviewed two decades of data from over 30 studies and found that volunteers had less depression, reported greater satisfaction with life, and lived longer than those who did not volunteer.

One two-year study found that adults over 75 who volunteered or worked for over 100 hours a year were one third less likely to report bad health and two thirds less likely to die over the course of the study. And according to other data in the review, people over 65 seemed to benefit more from volunteering than younger participants.

That volunteering has psychological benefits probably comes as no surprise to people who volunteer regularly -- doing good in turn leads to feeling good. But for older people, who are more likely to have retired or lost a spouse, volunteer activities are also a way to stay active and involved in their communities. The structure and social support that volunteer activities provide may help stave off depression that often accompanies chronic illnesses and major role transitions, including moves into long-term care residences.

According to an eight-year study of 1,137 adults, volunteering after the death of a spouse was associated with a decline in depression. And people who volunteered before their spouses died were less depressed after losing a spouse than those who hadn't volunteered before.

These emotional benefits may have a biological basis. According to Peter Rabins, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Health Policy and Director of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neuropsychiatry at Johns Hopkins, "Studies by my colleagues at the Johns Hopkins Older Americans Intervention Center have revealed that volunteering is associated with increased blood flow in certain areas of the brain, which might indicate more connections between brain cells in these areas. Their research also shows that volunteer work with children improves mood and morale. Perhaps better mood and blood flow are related."

Research has established that depression makes it harder both to recover from illness and to do things that are good for you, like exercise and eat well. Thus, the improved mental well-being that results from volunteering may also have an indirect impact on physical health.

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