Regrettably, we don’t qualify for membership for the Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage for many reasons: age, gender, geography and swimming ability among them. But for those who do join, they are rewarded with renewed purpose, camaraderie and often better health. Research has consistently shown a strong connection, especially in the second half of life, between volunteering and healthy longevity.
Virtually all of the research around volunteering and healthy aging has focused on the formal volunteering sector, working through established non-profits and charities. And that is a bit of a shame because research has shown that informal volunteering – defined as volunteer support not coordinated by an organization involving helping someone outside of your personal household – is in many places of equal significance. In the US alone, over half of adults report helping a neighbor and 10 percent do it on a regular basis – and it is particularly important in isolated, rural and underserved communities that may lack a critical mass of community organizations.
Informal volunteering can be just as powerful – and sometimes more powerful - than formal volunteering, both for the value of a community and for the health benefits to the volunteer. One long-term study that tracked more than 30,000 U.S. adults found that people who regularly helped others experienced slower cognitive decline compared with those who didn’t.
So how much of this informal volunteering should you do? A separate study in Social Science & Medicine found that just one hour a week of volunteering is linked to slower biological aging. At two to four hours a week, the perks multiply: improved mood, sharper cognitive health, and long-lasting benefits across both working adults and retirees.