Benefits of Volunteering
Volunteering is a rewarding activity that can enhance your wellbeing and contribute to your active lifestyle. Volunteering can be a wonderful leisure activity because it benefits the community, the non-profit organization, and you. In fact, research shows that there are significant health benefits to be gained from volunteering. These benefits include enhanced physical, emotional, psychological, and cognitive health, as well as a number of social advantages.
Some curated articles just for you, to guide you towards a volunteer experience that is right for you:
Healthy Aging – How Volunteering Helps
The parentgiving.com website chose to start their series on healthy aging with volunteering because people often don’t recognize its great value and because it so perfectly fits with the objectives of maintaining and improving our physical, mental and financial wellbeing. Raise your hand and get started volunteering! We’ve all dreamt of having the free time to do as we wish. Unfortunately, that sweet dream can sour [read full article]
Seniors Who Volunteer Less Likely to Develop Dementia
Volunteering generates lots of warm feelings, but for retired seniors it could also help stave off dementia. A study led by University of Calgary psychology professor Yannick Griep looked at 1,000 Swedish seniors and found those who regularly volunteered were much less likely to get dementia. "It turns out that getting everything but the paycheque is actually what makes you more healthy and makes you more [read full article]
Maintaining Healthy Life Balance By Volunteering
Why Volunteer? Volunteering can bring you to a healthy life balance; you can make friends, learn new skills, be healthier, be fulfilled, have fun, and it can even make you happier. Volunteering offers vital help to people in need, worthwhile causes, and the community, but the benefits can be even greater for you, the volunteer. So, let’s find out more about what experts say and researchers [read full article]
Volunteering One of the Most Powerful Things You Can Do
One of the first pieces of advice that, the founder of Blue Zones, always gives as a way to improve your life, health, and happiness is to sign up to volunteer in your community. Helping others benefits our health, just as it benefits those we serve through volunteering, says the founder of Blue Zones, Dan Buettner, a National Geographic Explorer and Fellow and journalist. He coined [read full article]
Kindness Matters: How Volunteering can Benefit Seniors’ Health
There are numerous ways that older people can volunteer their time and talents to contribute to worthy causes. And, while volunteering, older persons can take advantage of the health benefits of kindness — kindness matters. Volunteers often declare that they get more out of volunteering than the organization or community they volunteer with. The rewards reaped by older adult volunteers can truly be life-affirming and life-changing. [read full article]
Volunteering Encourages Healthy Aging and Expands Horizons
Volunteer Canada’s report, “Volunteering and Older Adults,” contains some fascinating and affirming statistics and information on next stage of life volunteering. As the report is long and detailed, we have provided some highlights below to inspire and inform older people who are thinking of volunteering. Volunteering helps older adults stay active and connected to their communities, it helps maintain social contacts, and it promotes a sense [read full article]
Benefits of Older Volunteering on Wellbeing – An International Comparison
Retired and senior volunteers are more protected from the hazards of retirement, physical decline, and inactivity than people of the same age who do not perform volunteer work, this 2019 study “Benefits of Older Volunteering on Wellbeing: An International Comparison” concludes. Only a few studies have covered the link between volunteering and subjective well-being specifically on older adults, and this comprehensive study is one of those. [read full article]
Volunteering = Joy, Connection, Fulfilment
McMaster University’s Optimal Aging Portal is a trusted and evidenced-based source for healthy aging and a number of articles in their blog underline the health benefits of volunteering in later life. Based on this article on Volunteers: Artisans of health and well-being, research tells us that: There is robust evidence that volunteering reduces mortality risk. There is some evidence that volunteering may reduce disability, promote the [read full article]
Testimonials from Older Adult Volunteers
Many Canadians have Discovered the Fulfillment and Satisfaction of Volunteering as Older Adults. We wanted the real experts to weigh in on volunteering: the volunteers themselves! The following are a list of inspiring quotes found in Volunteer Canada's Report: Volunteering... A Booming Trend. “I find more pleasure in life from volunteering and helping other people than I do from acquiring tangible things. Improving the conditions which [read full article]
Want to Improve Your Life Satisfaction
Want to Improve Your Life Satisfaction? Forbes Health found that, volunteering can be a meaningful opportunity for people of any age, but especially for those later in life. In fact, the more people volunteer, the more their life satisfaction increases. There are a number of reasons to consider volunteering, including increasing your physical, mental and spiritual well-being. Forbes says, a 2020 data review in the American [read full article]
