VOLUNTEERISM
AND HEALTH

Topics: Caring; Community; Compassion; Empathy; Giving; Health; Illness; Kindness; Love; Relationships; Rewards; Sacrifice; Servanthood; Unselfishness

References: Luke 10:25–37; John 15:12–17; Philippians 2:1–4

People who help others are healthier and live longer. That was one of the conclusions of a team headed by Stephen G. Post, professor of bioethics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, which evaluated fifty scientific studies of volunteers.

One of the studies, from Cornell University, spent thirty years following 427 women who were married and had children. Researchers found that only 36 percent of women who regularly volunteered had experienced a major illness, while 52 percent of those who never volunteered had a major illness. Other studies indicated that those who volunteered their time lived longer than those who didn’t. Frequent volunteers had a 44 percent reduction in early death when compared to nonvolunteers.

Scientists also identified precise areas of the brain that are highly active during empathic and compassionate emotions. “These brain studies show this profound state of joy and delight that comes from giving to others,” Post said. “It doesn’t come from any dry action—where the act is out of duty in the narrowest sense, like writing a check for a good cause. It comes from working to cultivate a generous quality—from interacting with people. There is the smile, the tone in the voice, the touch on the shoulder. We’re talking about altruistic love.”

—Jeanie Lerche Davis, “The Science of Good Deeds,” WebMD.com (November 28, 2005)