Definition of Health according the the

World Health Organization (WHO)

The WHO goal is for all people to have the highest possible level of health. Health is described as physical, mental and social well-being, and not just the absence of sickness.

Volunteering and Volunteering and Healthy LifestyleHealthy Lifestyle

EmotionalHealth

PhysicalHealth

Something Important to Do

SocialHealth

Balanced Health

True or False?

Feeling ill affects your social life.

True: When you feel

sick, you don’t feel like going out. People stay away because they don’t

want to get sick.

True or False?

Benefits of VolunteeringFact:

Senior volunteers benefit from social support. •Many seniors are at risk for social isolation and aging-related stresses.

•Research suggests that volunteering increases social activity and social networks and reduces isolation and dependency.

True or False?

Staying at home all the time affects your heart

health.

True or False?True: Your heart is a muscle. Itneeds exercise. Getting out of the house on a regular basis…

• Keeps you more active

• Increases your ability

to move

• Is good for your heart and other muscles

Benefits of Volunteering

Fact:Senior volunteers build houses and do home repairs, help do grocery shopping, drive others, and deliver mealsto frail elders.

True or False?

What you eat can affect how happy you are.

True or False?

True: A balanced diet is important for your body’s chemicals to work together properly.

Benefits of Volunteering

Fact:Senior volunteers learn about nutrition when they are concerned with food for others. They learn about special diets for diabetes and lowering cholesterol. They also benefit from healthy meals at meal-sites and program-sponsored events.

True or False?

Stress can make you depressed.

True or False?

True: Stress takes energy from other important things you want to do. It can make you feel tired and ‘blue’.

Benefits of VolunteeringFact:

The regular physical and social activities of volunteering reduce stress by helping you sleep well at night and not sleep during the day, avoid overeating or not eating at all, and keeping you involved with others, which helps you share your concerns.

True or False?

Being alone challenges you to think harder.

True or False?False: Being alone a lot narrows your point of view. Mental processes are reduced. Memory can be affected.

Benefits of Volunteering

Learning

Volunteers steadily gain skills in these areas the more they volunteer:

•Interpersonal

•Communication

•Knowledge

•Managerial

•Fundraising

•Technical or office skills

Benefits of Volunteering

Learning also…

• Makes you feel good

about yourself

• Makes someone else

feel good for having taught you

• Makes you feel capable to pass along information to someone else

EmotionalHealth

PhysicalHealth

Volunteer! SocialHealth

Balanced Health

ReferencesTess Scannell, Director, CNCS Senior Corps

http://www.whcoa.gov/about/policy/meetings/summary/tess%20remarksdec102004.pdf

Volunteering can enhance seniors' social support networks, contributing to their physical and

psychological health.

http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/vs-sb/voluntarysector/benefits/benefits1c.html

What can volunteering do for you?

http://www.timebank.org.uk/aboutgiving/benefits_vol.htm

ReferencesHelper's high: volunteering makes people feel

good, physically and emotionally

Psychology Today,  Oct, 1988  by Allan Luks

Secret Benefits of Generosity  THE GIVING HEART

by M.J. RyanInternet excerpt