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Study Shows...
Wed, October 15 2008
volunteer copyDoing volunteer work is good for you, but too much of a good thing can be bad, says a new study.
For instance, those volunteering more than 15 hours a week showed a sharp decrease in their satisfaction with life and emotional health, according to an Australian National University (ANU) researcher.
Tim Windsor from the ANU Centre for Mental Health Research (CMHR) said the findings of his study, which looked at 1,000 volunteers in their 60s, showed the value of taking part in moderate levels of volunteering, according to a news release.
Windsor said “the study found that those who volunteer at a moderate level — between around two and 15 hours per week — show high levels of well-being compared with non-volunteers. It appears to have a really positive effect.”
However, the opposite is true with those who volunteer for more than 15 hours a week. “Those people showed lower levels of mental health and well being.
The findings indicate that we need to make sure that volunteers aren’t being over-burdened,” he said.
He added that adequate support for the volunteer sector is needed to ensure that responsibility doesn’t fall to just a few, but is shared by many.
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