Volunteering as a major component of aging well: Examining minority participation

Background. Volunteerism has been associated with improved cognition, emotional health, and social well-being, especially in older adults. Current research documents that minorities are less likely to volunteer than non-minorities. Yet, little is known about predictors of organized versus informal volunteerism among seniors, and the influence of minority status. Methods. Data were collected from 539 adults (≥ 60 years) who responded to a statewide telephone survey generated from a random sample of Texas households in 2008. Designed to understand indicators of successful aging, study variables included: demographics; community involvement; and physical, mental, and spiritual dimensions of health. Logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with organized and informal volunteerism. Results. Older minorities were less likely to engage in organized volunteerism (i.e., African American: 21.7%; Hispanic: 20.3%; non-Hispanic White: 36.9%). Patterns for informal volunteerism differed among minority groups (i.e., African American: 42.2%; Hispanic: 36.4%; non-Hispanic White: 43.8%). Older adults likely to participate in organized volunteering had more than a high school education (OR=3.70), excellent mental health (OR=2.08), participated in daily spiritual activity (OR=2.16), and reported community involvement to be important (OR=2.50). Seniors likely to participate in informal volunteering had excellent mental health status (OR=1.78), participated in daily spiritual activity (OR=2.52), and reported community involvement to be important (OR=1.59). Conclusions. Further study is needed to examine why volunteer rates are lower among older minorities. The findings suggest positive messages integrating altruism, spirituality, and improved well-being could be utilized to encourage increased minority participation in all forms of volunteer activities.