Helping others contributes to good health

Many Americans believe that helping others on a regular basis can be good for your health, according to a new poll sponsored by Spirituality and Health magazine.

The study, conducted on the Internet by Equation Research, revealed that 58 percent of the 1,413 participants think that face-to-face volunteer work can produce health benefits such as stress relief and decreased sensitivity to physical and emotional pain. The poll had a 4 percent margin of error.

Although 77 percent of respondents said they volunteer in some form, only 13 percent volunteer consistently in a personal contact situation, meaning they spend at least four hours a month helping others face-to-face.

The consistent volunteers said they perform such services as tutoring, aiding the sick and working with the homeless, as well as informal acts such as helping a neighbor or giving advice.

According to Allan Luks, who wrote about the study in the May/June issue of Spirituality and Health and is head of Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City, the health benefits of volunteering, such as reduced stress, are experienced only when people work consistently and personally with strangers, not just family or friends.

Personal contact

Eighty percent of the poll respondents said that the nation’s overall stress level would decrease with increased personal-contact volunteer work. In addition, 86 percent believe it could help reduce racial, religious and ethnic mistrust across the country.

The poll also showed that most people want to help others. Eighty-one percent of those sampled said they would like to spend at least two hours a month doing volunteer work face-to-face.

The study looked at ways to capitalize on the interest in volunteerism. About half of the respondents said that seeing a public figure participate in face to-face volunteer work could motivate them to do the same.

“If President Bush, at the time of peril, could volunteer periodically with someone needy or ill, he might provide the long-needed spark to motivate more people to help others,” Luke wrote.

(RNS)