Resources and Research on Health Benefits of Volunteering

The following are U.S. studies that have documented the health benefits of volunteering.

University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research, March 1999. (Marc A. Musik, A. Regula Herzog and James S. House, Volunteering and Mortality among Older Adults: Findings from a National Sample)

Cornell University, Cornell Applied Gerontology Research Institute, 1998. Social Integration and Longevity, Cornell Retirement and Well Being Study)

Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. Department of Sociology. John Wilson, author, “Volunteering”.

Paul Arnstein, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Nursing, Boston College, “From Chronic Pain Patient to Peer and Benefits Risks of Volunteering,” (evaluated patients suffering chronic pain and discovered those who volunteered reported a reduction in pain and depression.)

Stephanie Brown, Randolph Nesse, Amiram D. Vinokur and Dylan M. Smith, “Providing Social Support May Be More Beneficial Than Receiving It: Results from a Prospective Study of Mortality,” Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan, as printed in American Psychological Society, Vol. 14, No.4, July 6. 2003.

Roger King, “Volunteerism by the Elderly as an Intervention for Promoting Successful Aging,” March 28, 1996.

Doug Oman and Kay McMahon, Buck Centre for Research in Aging in California; and Carol E Thoresen, Stanford University, Volunteerism and Mortality Among the Community-Dwelling Elderly.

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