Volunteering-always a way 

     to change someone's life

Volunteering to help others doesn't only 

feel good — it can also improve your 

mental health and help you live longer, 

according to a new study published Friday in the journal BMC Public Health.

In a review of 40 academic papers by the 

UK's University of Exeter, researchers 

found that volunteers had lower self-

rated levels of depression and high levels

 of well-being and life satisfaction, 

although findings have yet to confirm 

this in trials. Volunteers were a fifth less likely to die within the next four to seven years than average.

Volunteering is thought to be especially 

good for the physical health of older 

people, by encouraging them to stay 

active and spend more time outside the 

home. But young people experience 

benefits as well: a separate U.S. study 

published earlier this year in the journal 

JAMA Pediatrics linked volunteering 

with improved cardiovascular health in 

high school students.

Motives behind volunteering include 

wanting to "give something back" to the 

community, but if volunteers felt they 

weren't "getting something back" in 

return, then the positive impact was 

more limited, the researchers explained.

An estimated 22.5 percent of people in 

Europe devote some of their free time to 

volunteering, compared with 27 percent 

in America and 36 percent in Australia.

Head researcher Dr. Suzanne Richards 

said: "Our systematic review shows that 

volunteering is associated with 

improvements in mental health, but 

more work is needed to establish 

whether volunteering is actually the 

cause."

"It is still unclear whether biological and 

cultural factors and social resources that 

are often associated with better health 

and survival are also associated with a 

willingness to volunteer in the first 

place."

A separate study from Carnegie Mellon 

University in the US announced in June 

found that volunteering can improve 

heart health by reducing blood pressure.