28.11.2024 | Guest contributions
We have long suspected it, but now it has even been scientifically confirmed:
Volunteering not only helps society, but can also improve your own cognitive performance. This is the conclusion reached by a research team from the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) and the Bavarian Digital Dementia Register (digiDEM Bayern). In a systematic review, the team analysed the links between volunteering and cognitive performance.
To do so, the researchers analysed a total of 14 studies from around the world that were published between 2017 and 2021. They included studies from Korea, Taiwan, Brazil, England, England/Scotland, New Zealand, China, Japan and the USA. The FAU researchers came to the conclusion that nine of the studies indicate a positive correlation between volunteering and brain functions. These functions include, for example, perception, thinking, attention and language skills. However, scientists are divided as to whether the frequency of volunteering has a proportional effect on cognitive performance. After all, too much strain from volunteering can lead to stress.
The results of the study are particularly relevant for the prevention of dementia. Although the causes of dementia are as varied as they are complex, there are also risk factors that can be modified, such as obesity or smoking. A lack of education can also affect cognitive reserves. Volunteering can counteract this – after all, voluntary work challenges the brain and trains cognitive abilities. In civil defence and disaster control, for example, it is important to quickly recognise a complex situation and find a targeted solution.
Volunteering can therefore prevent or delay the risk of developing cognitive deficits. Two of the 14 studies analysed even showed that people with a lower level of education benefit more from the advantages of volunteering for cognitive performance than people with a higher level of education.
But other risk factors for dementia are also potentially reduced by volunteering. The sense of camaraderie in civil defence and disaster control organisations provides social support and counteracts isolation. There is also always something to do, so that physical inactivity – another risk factor – is effectively avoided. Incidentally, it is never too late to reduce your own risk of dementia. The study shows that the risk of developing dementia can be significantly reduced even later in life if several factors are reduced at the same time (for example through voluntary work). This is particularly relevant for women, as they are statistically more likely to develop dementia.
Of course, voluntary work is no guarantee of ageing without dementia. The main author of the study also points this out. It was only possible to confirm a positive effect on cognitive abilities – not on the risk of dementia. The results were too varied for a clear prognosis. Nevertheless, we are certain that the varied tasks of voluntary work in civil defence and disaster control keep the mind and body fit!
If you would like to find out more about the study, you can do so here:
https://www.fau.de/2023/07/news/wissenschaft/ehrenamt-staerkt-die-eigene-geistige-leistungsfaehigkeit/
The study itself was published in the Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare.
Anne Keefer, Kathrin Steichele, Elmar Graessel, Hans-Ulrich Prokosch, Peter L Kolominsky-Rabas: Does Voluntary Work Contribute to Cognitive Performance? – An International Systematic Review