CORRELATES AND HEALTH OUTCOMES OF LONG-TERM VOLUNTEERING: EVIDENCE FROM 16 YEARS OF THE HEALTH AND RETIREMENT STUDY. (11th November 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Y; Shen, H; Wong, R; Amano, T
• Is Part Of: Innovation in aging. Volume 2(2018)Supplement 1
• Page Start: 331
• Page End: 331
• Publication Date: 2018-11-11
• Subjects: Aging -- Periodicals; Gerontology -- Periodicals; 612.67
• DOI: 10.1093/geroni/igy023.1211
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2399-5300

Abstract

Abstract: The importance and benefits of volunteering in later life has long been an interest for gerontological professionals. Most existing literature have studied volunteering using cross-sectional data or within a short period of time. While some people never stop volunteering and some never start, little is known about the profiles of these individuals. This study contributes to the literature by investigating correlates and health outcomes of long-term volunteers and non-volunteers using nationally-representative data from the 1998 to 2014 Health and Retirement Study. The present study includes individuals who were 50+ in 1998 and were alive through 2014. We further selected people who either never-stopped (25.88%) or never-started (74.12%) volunteering in the study period, yielding a final sample of 3, 408. Logistic regression results showed that compared to non-volunteers, long-term volunteers tend to be younger, white, married, and have higher levels of education, economic status, and health status. Other significant correlates included religiosity (p<.000), having friends living nearby (p<.000), and living in non-urban areas (p=0.016). For health outcomes, OLS and ordered logit regression results showed that long-term volunteers had fewer number of depressive symptoms (b= -0.41, p<.000) and better self-rated health status (OR=1.83, p<.000), respectively. Given the significant health benefits of long-term volunteering, practitioners and policymakers are encouraged to make volunteering opportunities more accessible for people who were less likely to involve in long-term volunteering, so that they could also benefit from engaging in volunteering. Future research is encouraged to examine the mechanism among correlates, health outcomes and continuous/no engagement in volunteering.