The Helping Older People Engage Project: Improving Social Well-Being in Later Life

Older adults who feel lonely carry increased risk for reduced quality of life, morbidity, and mortality. Volunteering is a promising intervention for reducing loneliness in later life. The primary objective of this proposal is to test the hypothesis that a social volunteering program for lonely older adults will lead to reduced loneliness and improved quality of life. This study compares the effect of a Senior Corps volunteering intervention versus a self-guided life review active control condition on feelings of loneliness in older adults. The study involves randomly assigning older adults (150 women, 150 men) who report loneliness to 12 months of either: 1) a structured social volunteering program, or 2) an active control intervention with self-guided life review. Specific aims are as follows: 1) To examine the effect of volunteering on loneliness and quality of life; 2) To examine social engagement, perceived usefulness, and social support as mechanisms for reducing loneliness; 3) To examine conditions under which volunteering is most effective at reducing loneliness.