The association between voluntary work and health care use among older adults in Germany
Abstract Objective While most studies focused on the relation between volunteering and health-related outcomes, little attention has been given on the association between volunteering and the use of health care services. Thus, with this analysis we aimed at exploring whether and how the voluntary wo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2019-01-01
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| Series: | BMC Health Services Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12913-019-3867-x |
| _version_ | 1828496063277826048 |
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| author | Maike Flennert Hans-Helmut König André Hajek |
| author_facet | Maike Flennert Hans-Helmut König André Hajek |
| author_sort | Maike Flennert |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Objective While most studies focused on the relation between volunteering and health-related outcomes, little attention has been given on the association between volunteering and the use of health care services. Thus, with this analysis we aimed at exploring whether and how the voluntary work of older adults is related to the utilization of health care services in Germany. Methods The analysis was based on data from the German Ageing Survey (DEAS), a nationally representative, longitudinal study of the German population aged 40 years and older. Focusing on volunteering, data from the waves 2002, 2008 and 2011 was used. Voluntary work in groups and organizations (yes/no) was used as explanatory variable. To quantify health care utilization, visits to general practitioners and specialists as well as nights in the hospital in the past 12 months were used. Fixed effects regressions were applied to estimate the association between volunteering and the outcome variables. Results Regressions revealed that the onset of volunteer involvement was associated with an increase in specialist visits, whereas volunteering did not affect visits to general practitioners and the probability of hospitalization significantly. Conclusion Our findings emphasize the relation between volunteering and specialist visits. Future research is needed to examine the impact of volunteering on health care use, taking more detailed information regarding the specific context of volunteering as well as personality factors and personal background into consideration. This might be reasonable in advancing the knowledge about this association and in developing planned interventions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T12:22:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7d8dd7d5fca54f819c5b51ff0b04543a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1472-6963 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T12:22:29Z |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Health Services Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-7d8dd7d5fca54f819c5b51ff0b04543a2022-12-22T01:07:29ZengBMCBMC Health Services Research1472-69632019-01-0119111010.1186/s12913-019-3867-xThe association between voluntary work and health care use among older adults in GermanyMaike Flennert0Hans-Helmut König1André Hajek2Department of Health Economics and Health Services Research, Hamburg Center for Health Economics, University Medical Center Hamburg-EppendorfDepartment of Health Economics and Health Services Research, Hamburg Center for Health Economics, University Medical Center Hamburg-EppendorfDepartment of Health Economics and Health Services Research, Hamburg Center for Health Economics, University Medical Center Hamburg-EppendorfAbstract Objective While most studies focused on the relation between volunteering and health-related outcomes, little attention has been given on the association between volunteering and the use of health care services. Thus, with this analysis we aimed at exploring whether and how the voluntary work of older adults is related to the utilization of health care services in Germany. Methods The analysis was based on data from the German Ageing Survey (DEAS), a nationally representative, longitudinal study of the German population aged 40 years and older. Focusing on volunteering, data from the waves 2002, 2008 and 2011 was used. Voluntary work in groups and organizations (yes/no) was used as explanatory variable. To quantify health care utilization, visits to general practitioners and specialists as well as nights in the hospital in the past 12 months were used. Fixed effects regressions were applied to estimate the association between volunteering and the outcome variables. Results Regressions revealed that the onset of volunteer involvement was associated with an increase in specialist visits, whereas volunteering did not affect visits to general practitioners and the probability of hospitalization significantly. Conclusion Our findings emphasize the relation between volunteering and specialist visits. Future research is needed to examine the impact of volunteering on health care use, taking more detailed information regarding the specific context of volunteering as well as personality factors and personal background into consideration. This might be reasonable in advancing the knowledge about this association and in developing planned interventions.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12913-019-3867-xVolunteeringVolunteerHealth care useHealth care utilizationGP visitsSpecialist visits |
| spellingShingle | Maike Flennert Hans-Helmut König André Hajek The association between voluntary work and health care use among older adults in Germany BMC Health Services Research Volunteering Volunteer Health care use Health care utilization GP visits Specialist visits |
| title | The association between voluntary work and health care use among older adults in Germany |
| title_full | The association between voluntary work and health care use among older adults in Germany |
| title_fullStr | The association between voluntary work and health care use among older adults in Germany |
| title_full_unstemmed | The association between voluntary work and health care use among older adults in Germany |
| title_short | The association between voluntary work and health care use among older adults in Germany |
| title_sort | association between voluntary work and health care use among older adults in germany |
| topic | Volunteering Volunteer Health care use Health care utilization GP visits Specialist visits |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12913-019-3867-x |
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