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A randomized controlled trial and pragmatic analysis of the effects of volunteering on the health and well-being of older people

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Abstract

Background

Volunteering among older people has the potential to deliver health benefits to the individual, along with economic and social benefits to society. However, it is not clear whether healthier people are more likely to engage in volunteering, whether volunteering improves health, or the extent to which the relationship may be reciprocal. There is an identified need for longitudinal work, especially in the form of randomized controlled trials, to establish causality.

Aims

To assess the effects of commencing volunteering among older non-volunteers utilizing a randomized controlled trial approach involving per-protocol and pragmatic analyses.

Methods

Of the 445 Australians aged 60 + years who participated in the study, 201 were assigned to an intervention arm that required them to participate in a minimum of 1 h/week of formal volunteering in a position of their choice. The remaining participants were assigned to a control condition and asked to continue their lives as usual, but were not discouraged from commencing volunteering.

Results

Across the assessed physical, psychological, and social variables, a significant difference in sit-to-stand scores was found in both the per-protocol and pragmatic analyses, and a further significant difference in the fast pace walk was identified in the pragmatic analyses.

Conclusion

The results provide some support for policies and programs designed to encourage older people to engage in volunteering to maintain or improve their health.

Trial registration

Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12615000091505.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Nicole Biagioni, Zenobia Talati, and the team of staff and students at Curtin University and the Vario Health Clinic at Edith Cowan University for their assistance with data collection.

Funding

This work was supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant (DP140100365).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, Curtin University, Kent St, Bentley, WA, 6102, Australia

    Simone Pettigrew & Michelle I. Jongenelis

  2. School of Human Sciences (Exercise and Sports Science), University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia

    Ben Jackson

  3. La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia

    Jeni Warburton

  4. School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia

    Robert U. Newton

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  1. Simone Pettigrew
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  2. Michelle I. Jongenelis
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  5. Robert U. Newton
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Contributions

SP conceptualized the study and took primary responsibility for preparing the manuscript. MJ conducted the analyses and assisted with study design and manuscript preparation. RN, BJ, and JW provided conceptual input for the study design and contributed to the preparation of the manuscript. The funder played no role in the conducting of the research or the reporting of the results.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Simone Pettigrew.

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All the procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Pettigrew, S., Jongenelis, M.I., Jackson, B. et al. A randomized controlled trial and pragmatic analysis of the effects of volunteering on the health and well-being of older people. Aging Clin Exp Res 32, 711–721 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-019-01241-3

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