The Impact of Volunteering on Mental Health – an Evidence-Based Review

Patrícia Tuna, Sofia Almeida, Catarina Carvalho, Tiago Neto

Keywords: Mental Health, Anxiety, Depression, Volunteer

Background:

Mental health problems are very common in Portugal and represent a significant proportion of health-seeking contacts in primary health care, which appears to be the first line in the approach of that group of pathologies. Herein, it is important to create initiatives that promote the well-being and social integration of patients with mental health problems.

Research questions:

This work aims to review the impact of volunteering on mental health of adult population.

Method:

A research for systematic reviews, randomized clinical trials and observational studies, published in the last 10 years, was carried out in the Pubmed, Cochrane and DARE databases, using the terms MeSH “(“Mental Health” OR “Anxiety” OR “Depression”) AND “Volunteer””. The inclusion criteria were defined according to the PICO model: P - Cognitively healthy adults; I - Carry out volunteering; C - Do not volunteer; O - Impact on mental health. The Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy (SORT) scale was used to assign the strength of recommendation.

Results:

Of the 672 articles obtained in the research, the vast majority were excluded for not meeting the inclusion criteria, with 17 articles being selected (1 systematic review, 8 cross-sectional observational studies and 8 retrospective observational studies). All the selected articles demonstrated a positive impact of volunteering on mental health, namely in the reduction of depressive symptoms.

Conclusions:

The articles included are heterogeneous, in the characteristics of the samples, in the questionnaires applied and in the type/duration of volunteering. The majority of populations are aged ≥50 years and it is not clear which duration of volunteering is the most effective. However, the results obtained were consistent, pointing to a positive impact of volunteering on mental health, essentially in the elderly, with a level B recommendation, according to the SORT scale.

Points for discussion:

The impact of volunteering on the improvement of mental health.

Volunteering as a complementary therapy for mental illness.

Primary health care and its articulation with the social sector as promoters of more health gains.

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