SRDR+

1. Review ID

(surname of first author and year first full report of study was published e.g. Smith 2001)


	Cattan 2011

2. Review title


	Improving quality of life in ageing populations: What can volunteering do?

3. Date form completed


	04/08/2022

4. Initials of person extracting


	BN

5. Review funding source


	Commissioned and externally peer reviewed.

6. Possible conflicts of interest


	There are no competing interests with regards to this review article.

7. Aim of review


	The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive review of current knowledge (articles published between 2005 and 2011) regarding the role of volunteering in improving older people’s quality of life (QoL) and to identify areas requiring further research.

8. Number of databases searched


	10

9. Names of databases searched; date ranges of databases searched


	Web of Knowledge, ASSIA, Psycarticles, Pro Quest Nursing, Pubmed, CINAHL, Medline, Google Scholar, Zetoc, and Cochrane Reviews.

10. Date of last search


	published between 2005 and 2011

11. Number of included studies


	21

12. Exclusion criteria for participants

(e.g age, comorbidities) 


	We chose to consider studies that included people aged 50 years and over because this is the age used by major charities providing volunteering opportunities for older people, such as AgeUK, Saga and AARP, for their membership.

13. Exclusion criteria for volunteering

(e.g type of volunteering, for a specific organistion/purpose)


	Studies were included if they investigated the benefits of formal volunteering (some also included informal volunteering) for older people in terms of their quality of life.

14. Exclusion criteria for study type


	None described

15. Exclusion criteria for outcome measures


	Quality of life (QoL): was defined using Bowling’s [2] broad social description of older people’s QoL. Studies that only investigated the impact of volunteering on mortality or risk of disease were excluded.

16. Outcomes studied

(select all that apply)


	Psychological Physical Social General

17. Primary reported outcomes


	Older people's quality of life

18. Secondary reported outcomes (if applicable)


	four main themes that emerged from the articles and how these relate to quality of life: who are the volunteers (the demography); the impact of socio-economic circumstances; the impact of the geographical location of the volunteering (the cultural context); the relevance of different types of voluntary engagement on the individual and the organisation.

19. Number of participants included in the review


	Not provided

20. Review’s included study type (% of quant studies)


	longitudinal = 13 survey/cross sectional: 3 qualitative: 2

21. Included studies countries of publication


	The majority of the research had been conducted in the United States, followed by Canada and Australia.

22. Range of included studies years of publication


	2004 onwards

23. Review’s population

(age, ethnicity, SES)


	The majority of the studies included participants from either the age of 55 or 65 years, but some included participants aged 50 years and over and two projects focused on those aged 70 and over.

24. Social outcomes reported

25. Social outcomes not supported

(e.g cited as non-significant)

26. Physical outcomes reported

27. Physical outcomes not supported

(e.g cited as non-significant)

28. Psychological outcomes reported


	Reduction in depression (6), in women but not men (1).

29. Psychological outcomes not supported

(e.g cited as non-significant)

30. General outcomes reported

(i.e general health and wellbeing)


	Imporved psychological wellbeing (1) and self-rated health (1). There is a broad consensus from all the studies that voluntary activities, in one form or another, have positive impacts on older people’s QoL. Health status (real and self-rated) and social networks and support were the most commonly used measures to judge quality of life, although social productivity was also included as a measure in several studies based on activity theory. Collapsed measures into each other; Depression (6) Social networks/support/integration (6) Self-rated health/mental health (8) Physical/mental health (7) Psychological well-being (3) Functional status (4) Quality of Life (CASP; SF-36) (4) Social/human/cultural capital (1) Spiritual activities (2) Physical activity (3) Social productivity/contrib. to organisation (6) Life satisfaction (2)

31. General outcomes not supported

(e.g cited as non-significant) 

32. Interactions reported

(i.e between each other or demographic variables)


	Self-selection may have influenced some of the findings; older people with poor mental and physical health may be less likely to engage in volunteering compared with those with positive past experiences of volunteering (2). Sampling bias towards higher educated people (5) or disproportionate drop-out rates among people with fewer resources (1) may give a skewed impression of the actual impact of volunteering on all older people’s quality of life. Wealth predicts relationship between volunteering and life satisfaction (1). However, one study found that low socio-economic status older people are likely to perceive more socio-emotional and health benefits from volunteering than high-income older people because they feel more in control and empowered as a result of the volunteering (1). Another found human and cultural capital were found to have positive effects on psychological well-being among older people who were involved in moderate levels of time volunteering (1). moderate time commitment to volunteering had a positive effect on psychological well-being, while greater commitment did not yield greater benefits (2), although two programmes found a linear relationship (2). only formal volunteering helped to moderate depression for those with dual sensory loss (1) as opposed to paid employment and informal helping, but another study found effects on quality of life only existed for informal volunteering.

Self-selection may have influenced some of the findings; older people with poor mental and physical health may be less likely to engage in volunteering compared with those with positive past experiences of volunteering (2).
Sampling bias towards higher educated people (5) or disproportionate drop-out rates among people with fewer resources (1) may give a skewed impression of the actual impact of volunteering on all older people’s quality of life. Wealth predicts relationship between volunteering and life satisfaction (1). However, one study found that low socio-economic status older people are likely to perceive more socio-emotional and health benefits from volunteering than high-income older people because they feel more in control and empowered as a result of the volunteering (1). Another found human and cultural capital were found to have positive effects on psychological well-being among older people who were involved in moderate levels of time volunteering (1). 
moderate time commitment to volunteering had a positive effect on psychological well-being, while greater commitment did not yield greater benefits (2), although two programmes found a linear relationship (2).
only formal volunteering helped to moderate depression for those with dual sensory loss (1) as opposed to paid employment and informal helping, but another study found effects on quality of life only existed for informal volunteering.

33. Was a meta-analysis performed?

34. Number of included studies in the meta-analysis

35. Heterogeneity

(e.g I squared)

36. Pooled estimates

37. Confidence intervals (95%)

38. Key conclusions from study authors


	The general conclusion from these studies is that there is a positive association between older people’s quality of life and engagement in volunteering. However, due to the study designs used, causality is difficult to demonstrate.

39. Review limitations


	The only randomised controlled trial to date shows promising results, but these need to be viewed with some caution because of the small size of the study. There is also a lack of high-quality qualitative and multi-method research, which would help to explain why and how volunteering impacts on older people’s quality of life.

40. AMSTAR 2 quality appraisal rating


	-10

41. Quality appraisal tool used by review (if applicable)


	None

42. Quality of included studies (if applicable)


	N/A

43. Publication bias reported (if applicable)


	N/A

44. Was correspondence required for further study information?

45. What further correspondence was required, and from whom?

46. What further study information was requested (from whom, what and when)?

47. What correspondence was received (from whom, what and when)?

Extraction form for project: The effect of volunteering on the health and wellbeing of volunteers: an umbrella review

Design Details