5 Health Reasons to Volunteer
Volunteering your time doesn’t just help others; the flip side is that it benefits your health too. Volunteering may make you healthier and happier!
Here's how:
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Good for Your Heart
Being a volunteer can lower your blood pressure and improve heart problems. Studies have shown that volunteers* with a history of heart problems had reduced chest pain and lower cholesterol levels compared with non-volunteers. Moreover, people who volunteered after experiencing heart attacks reported less despair and depression – two factors that are linked to mortality in post-coronary artery disease patients.
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Keeps You Young
Volunteering in a social setting can help reverse or delay declines in brain function that occur with aging.
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Mental and Emotional Health
Helping others feels good and gives volunteers a sense of purpose, which may in turn have a positive effect on mental and physical health.
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Live longer
Your immune system might perk up. Your mood may improve. Do this kind of considerate action on a regular basis and studies suggest you may live longer.
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Fight Stress
Volunteer work that involves personal contact with others can help reduce stress and gives you a greater sense of meaning. Having a change of perspective can help stressors seem much smaller and help you feel more in control of your life. Don’t discount your financial contributions. Research proves using money to benefit others has similar effects.
We Need You!
At Northridge Hospital, we have a variety of opportunities for volunteers of all ages and skill levels. For more information on volunteer opportunities, call 818-885-8500, ext. 2961. All Northridge Hospital volunteers must have a physician release, apply for the position and complete volunteer orientation.
Source: Corporation for National and Community Service, "The Health Benefits of Volunteering: A Review of Recent Research, 2007," American Psychological Association
