Webinar

ILO-UNV webinar: Volunteer work among older persons: Trends and policy implications for ageing societies

The webinar aims to disseminate the recently published paper "Volunteer work among older persons - Trends and policy implications for ageing societies" and to explore the role of volunteerism in promoting active and healthy ageing among older person. The webinar will present key findings, feature experts in the area of ageing and volunteerism, and include experiences from practitioners of national programmes that build the connections between seniors and their communities through volunteerism.

Background

The world population is rapidly growing older. Population shares of persons aged above 65 years have already exceeded 20 per cent in a handful of countries and other countries – centered especially in Asia and Europe – are not far behind. The phenomenon of ageing demographics brings an increasing sense of urgency to national planning in promotion of healthy and active ageing. The frameworks of active and healthy ageing, as laid out by the World Health Organization (WHO), outline how older persons can be supported to age with dignity and respect. In part this can be accomplished through activities that improve mental, physical and social health, including through volunteerism. Social participation in volunteering can be a win-win for older persons and their communities at large and can thus serve well the objectives of active ageing.

A recent paper released by the ILO and UNV explores the demographics of older volunteers, both globally and in snapshots of specific countries, and discusses the policy implications for volunteerism promotion among older persons.

• Persons who volunteer in old age perform better than non-volunteers in their self-perceived quality of life, mental health and physical health markers. Older volunteers almost always report stronger cognitive performance, improved happiness and reduced negative symptoms associated with loneliness and depression.

• Factors suspected to deter volunteerism among older persons include the lack of sufficient household income and related income, time-poverty, burdens of household duties (felt more by women than men), insufficient social care and physical limitations.

• Governments in ageing societies are increasingly interested in promoting volunteerism among older persons within their policy instruments for active ageing. In a review of 50 countries’ national ageing strategies and plans, two-thirds of strategies were found to mention volunteerism as a tool for active ageing and one-half dedicated at least one full paragraph to the topic.

• National examples of measures to promote and incentivize volunteerism among older persons include the development and expansion of infrastructure to match potential older volunteers to organizations and volunteer opportunities, including through digital means. In addition, the extension of specific programmes aimed to promote social cohesion and wellbeing through intergenerational exchanges or cultural and civic participation further support these measures.

Objectives of the Webinar

1. Knowledge Sharing: Present the key findings of the report to a global audience.

2. Stakeholder Engagement: Facilitate discussions on the mechanism and policy gaps of healthy and active ageing, including volunteer work.

3. Action-Oriented Outcomes: Promote policies and programmes that incentivize volunteerism among older persons within national frameworks of active ageing.

Co-chairs

Sara Elder

Head, Employment Analysis and Economic Policies Unit
Emiliya Asadova

UNV / Policy Specialist

Presenter

Thomas Morgan

Panellists

Dorothea Schmidt-Klau

ILO / Chief, Employment, Labour Market and Youth
Dinora Azimova

UN / Gender Officer Afghanistan