Older adults engaged as volunteers

Assistant Ramona BranUniversity of the West Timisoara

rbran@socio.uvt.ro

Facts

• Birth rates across Europe are falling

• Life expectancy is growing fewer and fewer working

people older adults will have to

work part-time or volunteer after retirement

Volunteerism

• Doing something for the community, without expecting any reward

• Formal• Informal

Why?

• Altruism• Gaining experience• Personal satisfaction• Sense of duty• Making connections• Improving the quality of

their life by improving the quality of the community

Who?

• Anyone can be a volunteer!

• No age limit!• No gender difference!• No difference in social

status!

Older adults as beneficiaries

• Medical care• Socio-cultural events• Access to information,

psychological and juridical counseling

Older adults as participants

TIME + EXPERIENCE

Benefits

• Better physical and mental health

Benefits

• Stronger intergenerational ties

Benefits

• Avoiding isolation and marginalization

Benefits

• Feeling motivated, useful, satisfied

Benefits

• Better family functioning

Challenges

• Old age = passivity• Mentalities

Romania’s Case

• Mainly informal volunteering

• Little evidence about formal volunteering involving older adults (Council of Seniors, Timisoara)

Time for a change

• Family roles (caregiving) complement, do not conflict with volunteering

• Volunteering: = substitute of professional

life= way of keeping up with times= involves the elderly gradually,

but actively and usefully

Thank you!

All photos were taken from flickr, under Creative Commons License