Too much volunteering bad for the health

Oct 7 2008

According to a new study by researchers at the Australian National University (ANU), volunteering can be good for you, but too much can have an adverse effect on a person's health.

The study examined the effect of volunteering on older people and the impact on their mental health and well being.

It involved interviewing 1,000 volunteers in their 60s and found that those who did more than 15 hours a week paid a price for their work in terms of a significant decrease in mental health and psychological well being.

Of the participants in the study 5% did 15 hours a week or more of volunteer work and it was found that those who volunteered less than 15 hours a week had high levels of well being compared with non-volunteers, but this was not the case for those who gave up more than 15 hours a week.

Dr. Tim Windsor, from the ANU Centre for Mental Health Research, says the findings highlight the importance of not overcommitting to volunteer work as high levels of volunteering is not such a positive thing and there could be a threshold beyond which it is important to make sure that people don't become overburdened.

The study found the main reason people volunteered for more than 15 hours a week was because of a shortage of volunteers and a perception that more time was needed to get the job done.

Dr. Windsor says the findings highlight the need to boost volunteer numbers and ensure adequate government and community support for the sector.

Experts say it is important volunteers understand that any volunteer work should be less than 15 hours a week, as maintaining a healthy work-life balance is vital - but there is always the danger that when people retire they feel they must fill up their days and end up taking on too much and become stressed.

The ANU researchers have been tracking the activities of 7,500 people from the Canberra region for the past nine years and the volunteers are part of that group.

Dr. Windsor says adequate government and community support of the volunteer sector is important to ensure that the burden of responsibility doesn't fall to just a few, but is shared by many.