Volunteer to Better Health

Volunteerism and Personal Development

While an academic definition of volunteerism is any activity in which time and talent is given freely to deliver services or perform tasks to benefit another person, group or cause with no direct financial compensation expected, volunteering is really just a more organized form of giving of ourselves to contribute in some way to shape our own future and that of others.

Surveys show that most people believe that helping others has a positive effect on the general well-being of both the donor and the recipient. The positive relationship between subjective and objective well-being and volunteer work include life-satisfaction, self-esteem, and self-rated health. Also, volunteers increase the opportunity to advance educational and occupational objectives when exploring the idea that volunteering benefits both the helper and the helped.

It has also been suggested that the degree of one's well-being in helping redress the...
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