Volunteering is a positive way to engage your community and make a difference. While the social benefits of volunteering your time are well established, research indicates that volunteering also benefits individual health as well.

1. It leads to greater satisfaction with life

Volunteering not only helps others, but it makes you feel great. Research shows that volunteering increases your sense of personal purpose. The increased sense of purpose often leads to greater satisfaction with your life and increased happiness.

2. Volunteering connects you with others

Whether you volunteer with a group or on your own, volunteering reinforces social skills and bonds. Donating your time is a great way to meet new people that share common interests and broaden your support network. For those volunteering with people they already know, committing to a shared activity is a great way to strengthen existing relationships. Either way, volunteering gets you out of the house and interacting with people. According to the CDC, a key risk factor for depression is social isolation. Volunteering keeps you in regular contact with others and helps you develop a solid support system, which in turn protects you against stress and depression when you’re going through challenging times.

3. It increases physical activity

There are many different ways to volunteer and some activities involve more physical movement than others. Even if you’re not shooting baskets with your “little brother,” you are likely moving your body in some way! Every step counts and the CDC recommends walking 10,000 steps per day – or almost five miles. The effect of volunteering on physical activity is especially important for older volunteers who may not get out of the house as much.

4. The earlier you start volunteering, the more long-term health benefits you gain

A number of studies indicate that those individuals who begin volunteering at an earlier age experience better health outcomes and greater functional ability later in life. Getting your children involved in volunteer activities is a great way to boost their self-esteem, develop positive social relationships, and improve their life-long health.

5. The older you are when volunteering, the more immediate health benefits you gain

People aged 65 and older are more likely to experience physical inactivity and a diminished sense of purpose when their social roles change. Volunteering in positive community activities rejuvenates a person’s sense of social responsibility and gives them a defined purpose. Research even shows volunteers may maintain their independence longer as they grow older because of the mental and physical stimulation experienced while volunteering.

We are here when you need us! Patient First is able to evaluate and treat a wide range of illnesses and injuries. You can visit any Patient First center from 8am to 8pm, every day of the year – no appointment is needed.

Related Articles

Articles by tag

2020 2021-top-workplace 4th-of-July ACLS AED air-purification allentown Allergies Announcement Antibiotics anxiety Aspen Hill coming soon Asthma award awards back-to-school baltimore baltimore-child baltimore's-child baltimore-sun beach bedside-manner bel-air Best of Best urgent care best-for-families Bestof best-of best-of-2019 Best-of-2020 best-of-award best-of-awards bestofcountytimes Best-of-Jewish-times-winner Best-Urgent-Care Best-urgent-Care-Bowie-Blade-News best-workplace bethlehem Biking Black-Friday blog Blood-Donation BLS Blueberries Camping capital-gazette careers Cholesterol Circadian-Rhythm Cold cold-prevention colon-cancer concussion coronavirus covid-19 COVID-19-Test CPR cramp-prevention Dehydration dental-health Depression Dermatitis diabetes drowning Drug Screening Dry-Skin eastern-pa easton Eating-Disorder employees employment Ergonomics E-Scooter exercise eye-health face-mask Fall fall-sports Farmer's-Market First-Aid Fitness Flu flu-season flu-shots food-storage food-swaps football For Men For Parents For Women for-moms for-parents fredericksburg Gastrointestinal General Generation-X-Health Gift-Ideas Goals Halloween hand-foot-and-mouth Hand-Washing Hanukkah harrisburg headache Head-Lice Health Healthcare health-history health-symptoms Healthy Living healthy-eating healthy-living healthy-swaps Heart Heart-Disease Heart-Health Heat Heat-Exhaustion heat-safety hiking Holiday holidays horizonBCBS horizon-blue-shield Hydration Illness Inclusivity Inclusivity & Accessibility inclusivity-&-accessability injury-prevention Insect-Stings insurance jetlag jobs Kidney Kwanzaa Laughter lehigh-valley life-support-class Lightning maryland Mask meal-prep mechanicsburg medical-records melanoma memory-retention Men's-Health mental-health Migrane millennial Millennials Mood Improvement Movember MRSA new jersey new-center new-jersey new-year New-Year's northern-va northern-virginia nova Now open in Annandale Nutrition Occupational Health ocean-safety osteoporosis outdoors Paddle-Sports PALS Parenting Parenting-Tips parent-tips patient-first pennsylvania pets physicals poison-ivy poison-prevention Power-Outage Pregnancy probiotics Productivity Protein recipe Recipes registration resolutions richmond River Running Safety Safety Tips safety-tips Seasonal-Affective-Disorder shin-splings Sickness-Prevention simply-the-best skin sleep Smoke-Detector Smoking Snow soccer sore-throat south-jersey Sports Sports-Physicals spring-cleaning St.-Patrick's-Day Stitches strep Strep-Throat stress stress-managment Stroke summer summer-sports Sunburn Sunglasses Sun-Safety sunscreen Swimmer's-Ear swimming TBI Teal-Pumpkin Teething Thyroid tick tips-for-parents top-physicians top-workplace Travel traveling-tips travel-tips Travel-Vaccines urgent-care Urinary-health vacation vaccinations vaccines Valentine's-Day Valentines-Day Video Vitamin-D volunteering Walking washington-dc washington-post washington-post-2019 Water-Sports Weight-Lifting Wellness Winter Workouts Yard-Work Yearly-Physical