What is it about?
Older adults who spent more time helping others were less likely to develop difficulties with everyday activities over time. The findings suggest that helping others may support healthy aging by improving or maintaining physical, mental, and overall health.
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Why is it important?
Understanding factors that help older adults remain independent is important for supporting healthy aging and aging in place. These findings suggest that encouraging opportunities to help others may benefit both the people receiving help and the older adults providing it.
Perspectives
I wrote this paper with my elder friends and relatives in mind. The ones doing well seemed to be the ones that had responsibilities involving helping others, and this seemed consistent with the results of the paper. I may also become an "elder" one day, and plan to keep this in mind.
Raymond Hernandez
University of Southern California
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Examination of Total Hours of Volunteering or Informal Helping Among Older Adults and Risk of Future Functional Disability Using Data From a Large Panel Study, American Journal of Occupational Therapy, January 2026, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.5014/ajot.2026.051162.
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