Volunteering as an Avenue for Improving Views of Aging

志愿服务是改善老龄化观念的途径

• 批准号: 9923439
• 负责人: Hannah Lynne Giasson
• 金额: $ 6.16万
• 依托单位: STANFORD UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-09-01 至 2021-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9923439
• 关键词: Affect; Age; Ageism; Aging; Attitude; Behavior; Behavioral; Belief; Blood Pressure; Categories; Cognitive; Communities; Consultations; Elderly; Emotional; Empirical Research; Exposure to; Funding; Goals; Grant; Hand Strength; Health; Health Benefit; Health Policy; Individual; Influentials; Laboratories; Laboratory Research; Laboratory Study; Life Style; Light; Link; Literature; Longevity; Measures; Mentors; Nature; Personal Satisfaction; Physical Function; Physical activity; Physiological; Physiological Processes; Play; Policies; Process; Public Health; Research; Research Design; Role; Services; Shapes; Social Values; Societies; Stereotyping; Time; Translational Research; Work; age related; aged; aging population; base; biological adaptation to stress; career development; comparison group; experience; follow-up; healthy volunteer; improved; physical conditioning; preference; professor; programs; skills; social; volunteer

Project Summary/Abstract Emerging evidence suggests that attitudes and beliefs can have a strong impact on individual health. Attitudes about aging are particularly important in predicting late-life cognitive and physical health, and longevity. Whereas negative views of aging are found to be detrimental to older adults’ health and well-being, positive views of aging are protective for health as individuals become older. Although individuals’ attitudes and beliefs about aging develop across the life span in the context of cultural age stereotypes, laboratory studies show that older adults’ views of aging can be altered temporarily through stereotype priming in ways that have direct impact on behavior and physiological processes. Research has yet to investigate whether there are lifestyle strategies older individuals can use to improve their own attitudes about aging in the long-term. The goal of this proposal is to investigate whether the act of contributing to the community through volunteerism can improve older individuals’ views of aging, and ultimately, enhance their health. Aim 1 will examine whether volunteering is associated with improvements in views of aging over time. Given evidence of increased prioritization of socially and emotionally meaningful goals in later life, the social value and generative qualities of volunteerism present a promising context in which older adults can feel valuable and important to their communities, and potentially reduce negative age stereotypes depicting late-life social role loss. Thus, we predict that older adult volunteers’ views of aging will improve relative to those of an age-matched non-volunteering comparison group. Aim 2 will examine whether increases in positive views of aging enhance the health benefits of volunteering. Growing evidence suggests that older adult volunteers are healthier than their non-volunteering counterparts, and that volunteering may, in fact, improve cognitive and physical health over time. Given longitudinal associations between positive views of aging and health, we predict that improved views of aging will enhance the health benefits associated with volunteering over time. Understanding potential relationships among volunteerism, attitudes about aging, and individual health can contribute to building a more positive view of aging among both older people and society at large, and, ultimately, enhance the health of our aging population.

项目总结/摘要 新出现的证据表明，态度和信仰可以对个人健康产生重大影响。态度 关于衰老的信息在预测晚年的认知和身体健康以及寿命方面尤为重要。 尽管对衰老的负面看法被发现对老年人的健康和福祉有害，但积极的看法对老年人的健康和福祉有害。 随着个人年龄的增长，老龄化的观点对健康有保护作用。尽管个人的态度和信仰 实验室研究表明，在文化年龄刻板印象的背景下， 老年人对衰老的看法可以通过刻板印象启动的方式暂时改变， 影响行为和生理过程。研究还没有调查是否有生活方式 策略老年人可以用来改善自己对衰老的长期态度。这个目标 一个建议是调查通过志愿服务为社区做出贡献的行为是否可以改善 老年人对衰老的看法，并最终增强他们的健康。目标1将审查志愿服务是否 与随着时间的推移对衰老的看法的改善有关。有证据表明， 志愿服务的社会价值和产生作用的品质 提供一个有希望的环境，使老年人能够感到对他们的社区有价值和重要性， 可能减少描绘晚年社会角色丧失的负面年龄定型观念。因此，我们预测老年人 志愿者对老龄化的看法将相对于年龄匹配的非志愿者比较有所改善 组目标2将研究对衰老的积极看法的增加是否会增强 志愿服务越来越多的证据表明，老年志愿者比非志愿者更健康 事实上，志愿服务可以随着时间的推移改善认知和身体健康。给定 对衰老和健康的积极看法之间的纵向关联，我们预测，改善对衰老的看法 将随着时间的推移增强与志愿服务相关的健康益处。了解潜在关系 在志愿服务中，对老龄化和个人健康的态度有助于建立一个更积极的 老年人和整个社会的老龄化观点，并最终提高我们的老龄化健康 人口