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 Youth may be an important time for people to develop a sense of
themselves as contributing to society, and this identity may last
throughout life, the study team writes in The Journals of
Gerontology: Social Science.
There are many benefits to being involved in a community, including
more social relationships, greater cognitive engagement and better
health, lead author Emily Greenfield, an associate professor of
social work at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, told
Reuters Health.
“Participation in voluntary groups is thought to be especially
important for older adults, who are more likely to lack other major
social roles (such as through paid work) and who might face economic
and health barriers that jeopardize their inclusion within their
communities,” Greenfield said by email.
“Encouraging young people to become civically engaged is important
not just for the here-and-now, but might have effects that last over
decades to come,” she said.
To see whether early participation in voluntary groups is related to
social engagement later in life, Greenfield and a colleague used
data from a study that followed Wisconsin’s 1957 high school
graduates through the age of 72.
The study checked in with participants at ages 36, 54, 65, and 72
years and asked about their involvement with various community
groups, such as church groups, labor unions, parent-teacher
associations, sports teams, political groups and charity or welfare
organizations.
The study team also used data from high school yearbooks to
determine whether participants were involved in volunteer
activities, clubs and sports earlier in life.
On average, they found, participation in volunteer organizations and
other groups was highest in midlife and declined when people reached
their 60s and early 70s.
Community participation increased most rapidly between ages 36 and
45 and continued increasing until about age 54. At 54, participation
began to decline and the lowest levels of community participation
were among 72 year-olds.
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People who were involved in extracurricular activities in high
school were more likely to stay involved throughout their lives,
particularly if they had done four or more activities when they were
young. They also had less of a decline in participation between
middle age and older age.
“Communities that need volunteers often do not consider the value
that older adults offer,” said Dawn Carr, an assistant professor of
sociology at Florida State University who studies aging populations
and community participation.
The study’s measurements may not fully capture older people’s
involvement, as they emphasized how many groups people were involved
in, while older adults may tend to narrow their focus, said Carr,
who was not involved in the study.
“Previous research suggests that we engage in fewer organizations
but contribute more time to the organizations in which we are
engaged,” Carr told Reuters Health by email.
Organizations or communities that give older people a chance to be
valuable and learn new skills are more likely to keep them engaged,
Carr noted.
SOURCE: bit.ly/2jtJX06 The Journals of Gerontology: Sociology,
online January 19, 2017.
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