Could you find an hour a week to devote to slowing your biological aging? You’ll get other, additional benefits – adding not just more years to your life but more life to your years. That hour can also create a sense of purpose, improve mental health, give you a psychological lift, boost your social connectedness, and you’ll know you’re making the world a better place. All you have to do is volunteer. If you can find a few hours a week, the benefits are even greater.
A study published in this month’s issue of Social Science and Medicine found that volunteering for as little as an hour a week is linked to slower biological aging.
Biologic age
Biologic age refers to the age of a body’s cells and tissues and, over time, how quickly they are aging, compared to the body’s chronologic age. The most common way to assess biological age examines how your behaviors and environment change the expression of your DNA; it’s called epigenetic testing.
Why volunteering is associated with slower aging
Experts explain that volunteering’s significant effect on biologic aging is multifactorial, with physical, social, and psychological benefits.
Volunteering often includes physical activity, like walking. Social connections are vital; we’re programmed for connectedness. Social connections decrease stress and improve cognitive function. According to the study authors, volunteering can also create a sense of purpose, improve mental health, and buffer any loss of important roles, like spouse or parent, as we age.
Family Volunteering
When my son was six, we volunteered at a soup kitchen in a less-affluent part of Detroit. On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, he was right in the thick of making gallons of turkey soup and hundreds of cheese or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Finally, he grabbed his own PB&J and munched out with our guests. It’s one of my favorite memories.
Family volunteering (whatever “family” means to you) is a win for everyone. It strengthens families and communities. When family members unite for a worthy cause, their collective power is greater than just adding together the strengths of individuals.
Children will develop compassion and tolerance. They may acquire new skills. More importantly, volunteering provides models from which children learn to respect and serve others. They discover the gratitude that flows only from giving. Children who volunteer are more likely to volunteer as adults and, later on in life, create their own traditions with their children.
Parents get to spend more time with their kids, instilling important values with action; those values run deeper than words could ever reach. Include your kids in planning. You may discover what’s truly important to them.
Nonprofit agencies, understaffed and overstressed, can do little without volunteers. Virtually everyone can find a nonprofit that matches their passion.
Getting started
To decide if volunteering is right for your family, consider:
- About what issues are you passionate?
- What are your children’s ages?
- Who would you like to help?
- What does your family enjoy doing together?
- How frequently can you volunteer?
- What skills and talents can your family offer?
- What do you want your family to learn from the experience?
There are innumerable causes in which you can make a difference. About 3.5 million people a year will experience homelessness; about 40 percent are kids. Since 1989, the number of beds available in shelters has tripled. Collect toiletries. Give art and school supplies. Provide clothing and transportation.
Every day, 10% of Americans are hungry. Have a canned food drive. Make bag lunches for kids in a homeless shelter. Have a party – with an entrance fee of a can of food.
The elderly often need help the most. Adopt a grandparent. Deliver food – drive for Meals on Wheels. Look at photos and listen to stories. Give manicures and pedicures. Do seasonal yard work, rake leaves or shovel snow. Write letters. Play board games. Read books or newspapers. Bring your pet to visit. Write life stories. Provide transportation for medical appointments. Run errands. Make small home repairs.
I had elderly neighbors next door. When I cleared snow and ice (which was plentiful) from my car, I’d clear their car as well. Mrs. Neighbor watched through the living room window. Sometime later, she told me that she had a remote device to start and clear her car from inside her home! What can you do but laugh?
Source : https://studyfinds.org/volunteering-proven-way-stay-younger-longer/
