Volunteering could help people live longer and is good for their health and well-being, according to a report published today, which looks at the impact of volunteering on health.
In addition, volunteering has a positive effect on people’s self-esteem, helps to reduce the number of hospital visits, and can beat depression, stress and pain, says the report compiled by the University of Wales Lampeter, and commissioned by Volunteering England.
“This study has proved, through controlled trials, what we have long suspected - that volunteering helps to keep you healthy and fit,” said Dr. Justin Davis Smith, Chief Executive of Volunteering England. “Now Lampeter University’s report proves that those who do voluntary work or are helped by volunteers, adopt healthier lifestyles, can cope better with their own ill-health, have greater confidence and self-esteem, have an improved diet and even have a higher level of physical activity. Volunteering clearly has many hidden benefits.”
Care Services Minister, Ivan Lewis said: “There has been plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that volunteering has a positive impact on health but so far there was little hard evidence to support this. Now this new study has thrown up some amazing findings - such as a stronger sense of purpose, better quality of life, and even improved family relationships, through volunteering. Indeed on my recent visits especially for NHS60, many of the NHS volunteers I have met would reinforce this message. It just goes to show how a little goodwill can go a long way. I hope this study will encourage more people to volunteer, and reap the benefits for themselves and others.”
Dr. Rachel Casiday from the Department of Voluntary Sector Studies at the University of Wales Lampeter, who led the study, commented: “This is the first time any attempt has been made to bring this data together and it shows a clear link between volunteering and good health, both for volunteers and health service users.
“We carried out a systematic review of all the published research on the health impacts of volunteering – both for volunteers and for health service users. We reviewed 87 studies, including 15 controlled trials. Our findings suggest that having volunteers delivering certain services was beneficial to health. But we did not look at the question of whether these services are better delivered by volunteers or paid staff.
“Most of the results were very positive and the only study included in this review that showed a negative effect of volunteering concerned care for older people –where it found that volunteers tended to be less satisfied than paid employees,” Dr Casiday added. “We also looked at the impact of different types of volunteering. For instance, church-related volunteering had a bigger impact on depression than secular volunteering; and one study found that volunteers working on environmental projects were likely to be physically fitter.”
Among the other key factors revealed in the study were that volunteering can improve volunteers’ mental health and enable them to cope better with illness when it occurs. Volunteering also has a positive impact on a range of factors affecting health service users including social support and interaction, disease management, adoption of healthy behaviour, compliance with medical treatment and relationships with health care professionals.
Note to editors:
- For more information or interviews please contact Mary Ann Day on 020 7520 8932 or email maryann.day@volunteeringengland.org
- A copy of the report summary is attached. The full report can be found at: www.volunteering.org.uk/hsc
- Volunteering England aims to improve the quality, quantity, impact and accessibility of volunteering throughout England. For more information please visit www.volunteering.org.uk
- Volunteering England commissioned the University of Wales Lampeter to undertake a systematic review of published research. They asked researchers to assess the health effects of volunteering both on individual volunteers and on health service users. Researchers identified nearly 25,000 potentially relevant articles from database searches. Of these, 87 meeting their inclusion criteria were reviewed.
- The six month study was led by Dr Rachel Casiday in the Department of Voluntary Sector Studies at the University of Wales Lampeter. Her co-authors were Eileen Kinsman (University of Wales Lampeter), Dr Clare Fisher (University of Wales Lampeter) and Dr Clare Bambra (Durham University). It was commissioned by Volunteering England with support from the Department of Health.
- For media enquiries, Dr Rachel Casiday can be contacted on: 01570 424922, email: r.casiday@lamp.ac.uk or contact Jane Norris-Hill Head of External Affairs, on: 01570 424799, email j.norris-hill@lamp.ac.uk
- The University of Wales Lampeter’s telephone number is: 01570 422351.
