Volunteering Our Time Makes Us Feel Like We Have More Time: Study

"We consistently find that volunteering and helping behavior is associated with a reduced risk of mortality," says Brown. "We see this over and over again in prospective studies that control for other variables, such as baseline health and gender."

For example, a study in Detroit looked at 423 married couples over age 65. They were asked if they helped anyone other than each other in the previous year with transportation, errands, shopping, housework, childcare or other tasks. Those who did were about half as likely to die over the next five years than those who didn't. "Now," says Brown, "we need to find out why and how."

She and fellow researchers have already uncovered a few clues.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/22/volunteering-time_n_1672170.html

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