Background on Volunteering and Loneliness
We have long known that volunteering is an antidote to loneliness. Recent scientific studies are refining our understanding in order to maximize the utility of volunteering. They are exploring the who (children, parents, spouse, grandparents) what (caregiving vs. charity), where (high or low infrastructure), how (quantity of hours) and why (prosocial value) of unpaid work and how all these factors affect loneliness.
Recent scientific studies refine our understanding by considering:
(1) the type of unpaid work: caregiving for spouses, parents, grandparents and children
It depends. Not all volunteer or unpaid work has equal value in reducing loneliness. In fact, caregiving for spouses tended to increase loneliness in the caregiver. In contrast, caring for children decreased loneliness in the elderly. Interestingly, caregiving of parents reduced the likelihood of of the caregiver feeling lonely later in life. (Akhter-Khan)
(2) the minimum number of volunteer hours to be worked to reduce feelings of loneliness
One study determined that one hundred (100) hours of volunteer work per year was the minimum number required to establish a protective effect. Other studies concur and use this as the baseline number. (J. Cho)
(3) whether paid and volunteer work differ
Indeed, paid work does not provide the protective effect against loneliness that volunteer work does. (Fu)
(4) how volunteers were affected by encountering loneliness in the elderly
Volunteers who worked with the elderly often encounter their seniors loneliness. This study explores the effect of this on the caregiver. Volunteers and seniors who explored their loneliness together both felt relief. (Sundström)
(5) how social infrastructure alleviates loneliness in Europe
This is a complex policy piece that is worth noting. Though it is not focused on individual choices, it includes volunteering as key to reducing loneliness.
Loneliness had become a matter of public concern in the mainstream media and policy circles in Europe by 2016, when a special commission in the United Kingdom investigated the issue, leading to the establishment of a “Minister of Loneliness” by 2018. The topic saw a further boost in public salience with the COVID-19 pandemic because various countermeasures led to a breach in daily taken-for-granted social interactions.
Yet loneliness as a topic of scientific research has been somewhat neglected by sociologists over the past decades, despite empirical work especially by scholars based in the Netherlands. Scientists’ understanding of the macro level of loneliness, including its cultural dimensions and possible policy responses, is still lacking at this publication date of May 2023.
This article addresses the question, “Why do individualist societies have the lowest rates of loneliness in Europe?” It thus contributes toward building a theory that connects loneliness with modern culture and societal composition. Such knowledge can support a more scientifically grounded loneliness policy.
In Europe, individualist societies, in which people more highly value independence, have fewer people who are lonely. Yet these societies also have more people who live alone, a strong determinant of loneliness. Evidence suggests that some unrecognized societal-level resources or characteristics can explain this.
Researchers uncover multiple pathways toward a lower degree of loneliness among European societies using an ideal method for this purpose, fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. Using data from the 2014 wave of the European Social Survey and other sources, analyzed loneliness outcomes among 26 European societies. Researchers findings suggest two necessary conditions for a low degree of loneliness:
(1) high internet access; and
(2) high association participation.
Further, three pathways are sufficient for achieving less loneliness at the societal level.
Most societies that have less loneliness follow both the
(1) welfare support;
(2) cultural support pathways;
The third path,
(3) commercial provision, is mutually exclusive with welfare support because the former requires a weak welfare state.
RECOMMENDATION: The surest policy for building societies that have lower rates of loneliness includes
(1) the expansion of internet accessibility;
(2) the fostering of civil society through association participation and volunteering; and
(3) a welfare state that protects potentially vulnerable populations while funding opportunities for social interaction. (Swader)
References
Akhter-Khan SC, Hofmann V, Warncke M, Tamimi N, Mayston R, Prina MA. Caregiving, volunteering, and loneliness in middle-aged and older adults: a systematic review. Aging Ment Health. 2022 Nov 23:1-13. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2022.2144130. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36417922.
Cho J, Xiang X. The Relationship Between Volunteering and the Occurrence of Loneliness Among Older Adults: A Longitudinal Study with 12 Years of Follow-Up. J Gerontol Soc Work. 2023 Jul;66(5):680-693. doi: 10.1080/01634372.2022.2139322. Epub 2022 Nov 4. PMID: 36330601.
Nakamura JS, Lee MT, Chen FS, Archer Lee Y, Fried LP, VanderWeele TJ, Kim ES. Identifying pathways to increased volunteering in older US adults. Sci Rep. 2022 Jul 27;12(1):12825. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-16912-x. PMID: 35896597; PMCID: PMC9328015.
Fu Y, Ji X. Productive engagement, sleep-wake disturbances, and loneliness: SEM analysis of depressive symptoms of community-dwelling Chinese elders. Aging Ment Health. 2022 Feb;26(2):345-354. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2020.1867824. Epub 2021 Jan 7. PMID: 33410331.
Sundström M, Blomqvist K, Edberg AK. Being a volunteer encountering older people’s loneliness and existential loneliness: alleviating loneliness for others and oneself. Scand J Caring Sci. 2021 Jun;35(2):538-547. doi: 10.1111/scs.12869. Epub 2020 May 12. PMID: 32400051.
Swader CS, Moraru AV. Social Infrastructure and the Alleviation of Loneliness in Europe. Kolner Z Soz Sozpsychol. 2023 May 4:1-28. doi: 10.1007/s11577-023-00883-6. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37360992; PMCID: PMC10158682.
Akhter-Khan SC, Chua KC, Al Kindhi B, Mayston R, Prina M. Unpaid productive activities and loneliness in later life: Results from the Indonesian Family Life Survey (2000-2014). Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2023 Feb;105:104851. doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2022.104851. Epub 2022 Oct 31. PMID: 36343441.
Cañas-Lerma AJ, Campos-Vidal JF, Verger S. “Our focus is on illness and loneliness”: Volunteer work engagement, compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, self-care and motivations to volunteer. Health Soc Care Community. 2022 Nov;30(6):e6631-e6644. doi: 10.1111/hsc.13934. Epub 2022 Jul 27. PMID: 35894113; PMCID: PMC10087707.
Bains KK, Turnbull T. Improving Health Outcomes and Serving Wider Society: The Potential Role of Understanding and Cultivating Prosocial Purpose Within Health Psychology Research and Practice to Address Climate Change and Social Isolation and Loneliness. Front Psychol. 2019 Aug 7;10:1787. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01787. PMID: 31440182; PMCID: PMC6693434.
Madeline J. Robertson, J.D., M.D.
Solutions for Reversing the Loneliness Epidemic — Founder, President & CEO at Here With You, Inc.