Longitudinal impact of volunteering on the cognitive functioning of older adults: A secondary analysis from the US Health and Retirement Study.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To examine the relationship of volunteering with cognitive activity, social activity, and physical activity among older adults and, ultimately, with later cognitive functioning across different time periods.

Methods

We used individual responding to three waves of the US Health and Retirement Study panel data from 2008, 2012, and 2016 (n = 2,862). Self-reported questionnaires were used to assess annual volunteering frequency (non volunteering, volunteering <100 h and ≥100 h), and an adapted version of the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS) was used to assess memory, mental processing, knowledge, language, and orientation. A structural equation model was estimated to assess effects on cognitive functioning throughout waves.

Results

Those p

SUBMITTER: Villalonga-Olives E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10401338 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature