The Five Benefits of Volunteering as a Senior

As seniors face increased rates of loneliness, it is important to find appropriate methods to fight against it. Volunteering your time helps to strengthen the community while combating against many negative health outcomes. Seniors who dedicate some of their time to volunteer work may experience five benefits.
These include:

1. gaining a sense of purpose,

2. developing new skills,

3. reducing feelings of loneliness,

4. connecting with their community and

5. increasing their quality of life.

According to a study done by Morrow-Howell, Hinterlong, Rozario & Tang, seniors who engage in higher hours of volunteering report elevated feelings of well-being and happiness (2003). As a senior, it appears that the more hours of volunteer work you can contribute to, the higher your sense of well-being will be and you may experience decreased feelings of loneliness. Volunteer work is a great way to combat social isolation and engage in your community. 

Perhaps this is a great solution to combating feelings of loneliness, but how does one go about gaining volunteer work during a global pandemic? There are multiple programs that operate over-the-phone to provide their clients with supportive services. SKIP’s program “Buzz Me” utilizes the phone and computer programming to talk with seniors who are combating social isolation. This would be a great way for seniors to gain volunteer experience, and fight against feelings of loneliness while talking with others from the community. Engaging in volunteer work supports and develops a better quality of life for individuals as they age. Volunteering has the opportunity to provide seniors with a sense of purpose, develops new skills and can overall reduce the negative impacts associated with aging and isolation.

References:

Morrow-Howell, N., Hinterlong, K., Rozario, P. A., & Tang, F. (2003). Effects of volunteering on the well-being of older adults. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 58(3)