Contributing in our community gives those in later life meaning and purpose

At Public Health England we talk a lot about the fact that most of the things that keep us well both mentally and physically, have nothing to do with the health system. Our needs in life are pretty simple – we need somewhere to live, something to do – a role that gives us something to get up in the morning - and someone to love - friends, and family. Evidence shows that volunteering and contributing to our communities can help with two out of three of these. So, I was delighted to chair a roundtable recently looking at these issues, on behalf of the Centre for Ageing Better.

The focus of our discussion was the role of public sector bodies – from schools, to hospitals, to fire and rescue services - in supporting more people to take part in their communities in later life. The evidence gathered by the Centre for Ageing Better makes clear that helping other people – from formal roles such as school governors to popping in on our neighbours – is not only good for our communities, but it’s also good for the individuals that do it. It improves not only the quantity, but also the quality, of our social connections and gives us a sense of meaning and purpose.

Sadly, at the moment, some of those most in need of these wellbeing benefits, are least likely to get involved. There are significant gaps between the rates at which the richest and poorest; and those in the best and the poorest health, get involved in volunteering.  So, our question was how we could open up the opportunity to volunteer to more diverse groups of people, and how we could encourage more people to take part. A few potential areas for action emerged.

Some of the suggestions we discussed were practical. We considered how to smooth some of the bureaucracy that can make the process of getting started in volunteering feel like such a slog – perhaps though creating shared processes for volunteer applications, training and checks. And we discussed the need to overcome the concerns of finance directors to provide support with travel costs upfront, to enable those on low incomes to volunteer.

Other issues we discussed were more complex: Such as the need to find an appropriate role for the state in supporting the very informal and casual forms of volunteering that happen in communities. And considering how public-sector bodies can appropriately play a role in a spectrum of community activity that starts with activism and political engagement.

However, what was very clear to me, was the need to marry up the conversations that we often have about harnessing the power of the community to address health and wellbeing challenges, with the debate about promoting community action. 

Some 75% of people are already involved in helping out in one way or other – so it’s nonsensical to think of people as either “supporters” or “the supported”. In reality, people are helpers at some points in their lives and helped at other times, and sometimes both at once. Unfortunately, the public sector often struggles to cope with grey areas, and can tend towards rigidity – for example in creating contracts that force providers to count individuals as either volunteers or beneficiaries. And this can leave people feeling pigeon-holed, and mean that providers often overlook the huge talents of the people they serve.

We know that as our population ages we will see more people in need of support to maintain their health and wellbeing, but it’s also clear that part of the solution will lie not in helping them, but in enabling them to help.  In an ageing society, we need to think not just about harnessing the power of communities to support older people, but also the power of older people to support communities.