IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0183829.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

For how many days and what types of group activities should older Japanese adults be involved in to maintain health? A 4-year longitudinal study

Author

Listed:
  • Kumiko Nonaka
  • Hiroyuki Suzuki
  • Hiroshi Murayama
  • Masami Hasebe
  • Takashi Koike
  • Erika Kobayashi
  • Yoshinori Fujiwara

Abstract

Objective: Studies have suggested that frequent participation in social groups contributes to the well-being of older people. The primary aim of this study was to identify the number of days older adults should participate in the activities of social groups to maintain their health for 4 years. This study also aimed to examine whether the effective frequency differs by the type of social group activity. Method: We examined a prospective cohort of 1,320 community-dwelling older adults over 65 years of age, who responded to both a baseline and a follow-up mail survey, in a suburban city of Tokyo, Japan. The dependent variable was the change in functional competence during 4 years. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the effects of participation in the activities of the 5 most common social groups among older Japanese on maintaining functional competence. Results: Nine hundred and ninety-four participants (76.5%) maintained their functional competence for 4 years. The results of the logistic regression analyses showed that participating in alumni groups less than once a month and being an inactive member were associated with higher odds of maintaining functional competence, after controlling for socioeconomic, demographic and baseline health status. Additionally, the odds of maintaining functional competence for 4 years increased upon participating in volunteer groups once a month or more. These results were also confirmed using logistic regression analysis, even after adjustment for the effects of participation in other social groups. Discussion: The results indicated the effectiveness of volunteer activities that fulfill a social role in maintaining health. Therefore, older adults should be encouraged to participate in activities of volunteer groups at least once a month. Additionally, older adults can obtain positive health outcomes through less frequent participation in alumni groups, compared with the activities of volunteer groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Kumiko Nonaka & Hiroyuki Suzuki & Hiroshi Murayama & Masami Hasebe & Takashi Koike & Erika Kobayashi & Yoshinori Fujiwara, 2017. "For how many days and what types of group activities should older Japanese adults be involved in to maintain health? A 4-year longitudinal study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(9), pages 1-12, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0183829
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0183829
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0183829
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0183829&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0183829?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Musick, Marc A. & Wilson, John, 2003. "Volunteering and depression: the role of psychological and social resources in different age groups," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 259-269, January.
    2. Poortinga, Wouter, 2006. "Social relations or social capital? Individual and community health effects of bonding social capital," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 255-270, July.
    3. Nancy Morrow-Howell & Jim Hinterlong & Philip A. Rozario & Fengyan Tang, 2003. "Effects of Volunteering on the Well-Being of Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 58(3), pages 137-145.
    4. Marieke Van Willigen, 2000. "Differential Benefits of Volunteering Across the Life Course," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 55(5), pages 308-318.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Trine Filges & Anu Siren & Torben Fridberg & Bjørn C. V. Nielsen, 2020. "Voluntary work for the physical and mental health of older volunteers: A systematic review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(4), December.
    2. Abe, Takumi & Seino, Satoshi & Hata, Toshiki & Yamashita, Mari & Ohmori, Nobuaki & Kitamura, Akihiko & Shinkai, Shoji & Fujiwara, Yoshinori, 2023. "Transportation modes and social participation in older drivers and non-drivers: Results from urbanised Japanese cities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    3. Kazushige Ide & Taishi Tsuji & Satoru Kanamori & Seungwon Jeong & Yuiko Nagamine & Katsunori Kondo, 2020. "Social Participation and Functional Decline: A Comparative Study of Rural and Urban Older People, Using Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study Longitudinal Data," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-13, January.
    4. Motoki Tamura & Shinji Hattori & Taishi Tsuji & Katsunori Kondo & Masamichi Hanazato & Kanami Tsuno & Hiroyuki Sakamaki, 2021. "Community-Level Participation in Volunteer Groups and Individual Depressive Symptoms in Japanese Older People: A Three-Year Longitudinal Multilevel Analysis Using JAGES Data," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-13, July.
    5. Kazuki Yokoyama & Hikaru Ihira & Yuriko Matsuzaki-Kihara & Atsushi Mizumoto & Ryo Miyajima & Takeshi Sasaki & Naoki Kozuka & Nozomu Ikeda, 2022. "Association between Productive Roles and Frailty Factors among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-9, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Aoki, Yu, 2014. "Donating Time to Charity: Not Working for Nothing," IZA Discussion Papers 7990, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Huang, Li-Hsuan, 2019. "Well-being and volunteering: Evidence from aging societies in Asia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 172-180.
    3. Lindsey McDougle & Femida Handy & Sara Konrath & Marlene Walk, 2014. "Health Outcomes and Volunteering: The Moderating Role of Religiosity," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 117(2), pages 337-351, June.
    4. Wang, Wei-Pang & Wu, Li-Hsueh & Zhang, Wei & Tsay, Ruey-Ming, 2019. "Culturally-specific productive engagement and self-rated health among Taiwanese older adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 79-86.
    5. Michelle I. Jongenelis & Ben Jackson & Jennifer Warburton & Robert U. Newton & Simone Pettigrew, 2022. "Aspects of formal volunteering that contribute to favourable psychological outcomes in older adults," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 107-116, March.
    6. Hong, S.I. & Morrow-Howell, Nancy, 2010. "Health outcomes of Experience Corps®: A high-commitment volunteer program," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 414-420, July.
    7. Christian Kroll, 2014. "Towards a Sociology of Happiness: The Case of an Age Perspective on the Social Context of Well-Being," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 19(2), pages 1-18, May.
    8. Fothergill, Kate E. & Ensminger, Margaret E. & Robertson, Judy & Green, Kerry M. & Thorpe, Roland J. & Juon, Hee-Soon, 2011. "Effects of social integration on health: A prospective study of community engagement among African American women," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 291-298, January.
    9. Arjen Wit & Heng Qu & René Bekkers, 2022. "The health advantage of volunteering is larger for older and less healthy volunteers in Europe: a mega-analysis," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1189-1200, December.
    10. Maria Vozikaki & Manolis Linardakis & Katerina Micheli & Anastas Philalithis, 2017. "Activity Participation and Well-Being Among European Adults Aged 65 years and Older," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 131(2), pages 769-795, March.
    11. Anke Plagnol & Felicia Huppert, 2010. "Happy to Help? Exploring the Factors Associated with Variations in Rates of Volunteering Across Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 97(2), pages 157-176, June.
    12. Matthias Lühr & Maria K. Pavlova & Maike Luhmann, 2022. "They are Doing Well, but is it by Doing Good? Pathways from Nonpolitical and Political Volunteering to Subjective Well-Being in Age Comparison," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 1969-1989, June.
    13. Thomas Akintayo & Niina Häkälä & Katja Ropponen & Elsa Paronen & Sari Rissanen, 2016. "Predictive Factors for Voluntary and/or Paid Work among Adults in their Sixties," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(3), pages 1387-1404, September.
    14. Trine Filges & Anu Siren & Torben Fridberg & Bjørn C. V. Nielsen, 2020. "Voluntary work for the physical and mental health of older volunteers: A systematic review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(4), December.
    15. Eleftherios Giovanis & Oznur Ozdamar, 2022. "Who is Left Behind? Altruism of Giving, Happiness and Mental Health during the Covid-19 Period in the UK," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(1), pages 251-276, February.
    16. Liu, Yiwei & Duan, Yanan & Xu, Ling, 2020. "Volunteer service and positive attitudes toward aging among Chinese older adults: The mediating role of health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    17. Okun, Morris A. & August, Kristin J. & Rook, Karen S. & Newsom, Jason T., 2010. "Does volunteering moderate the relation between functional limitations and mortality?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(9), pages 1662-1668, November.
    18. Mónika Garai-Fodor & János Varga & Ágnes Csiszárik-Kocsir, 2021. "Correlation between Generation Z in Hungary and the Motivating Factors to Do Volunteer Work in a Value-Based Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-18, October.
    19. Matthias Lühr & Maria K. Pavlova & Maike Luhmann, 2022. "Nonpolitical Versus Political Participation: Longitudinal Associations with Mental Health and Social Well-Being in Different Age Groups," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 159(3), pages 865-884, February.
    20. Zhongsheng Wu & Angela Bies, 2021. "Volunteering and Self-Rated Health in Urban China: New Evidence from Analyses of Treatment-Effects Models," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(5), pages 2185-2201, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0183829. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.