Facilitators and barriers of implementing end-of-life care volunteering in a hospital in five European countries: the iLIVE study.

BACKGROUND: End-of-life (EoL) care volunteers in hospitals are a novel approach to support patients and their close ones. The iLIVE Volunteer Study supported hospital volunteer coordinators from five European countries to design and implement an EoL care volunteer service on general wards in their hospitals. This study aimed to identify and explore barriers and facilitators to the implementation of EoL care volunteer services in the five hospitals. METHODS: Volunteer coordinators (VCs) from the Netherlands (NL), Norway (NO), Slovenia (SI), Spain (ES) and United Kingdom (UK) participated in a focus group interview and subsequent in-depth one-to-one interviews. A theory-inspired framework based on the five domains of the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) was used for data collection and analysis. Results from the focus group were depicted in radar charts per hospital. RESULTS: Barriers across all hospitals were the COVID-19 pandemic delaying the implementation process, and the lack of recognition of the added value of EoL care volunteers by hospital staff. Site-specific barriers were struggles with promoting the service in a highly structured setting with many stakeholders (NL), negative views among nurses on hospital volunteering (NL, NO), a lack of support from healthcare professionals and the management (SI, ES), and uncertainty about their role in implementation among VCs (ES). Site-specific facilitators were training of volunteers (NO, SI, NL), involving volunteers in promoting the service (NO), and education and awareness for healthcare professionals about the role and boundaries of volunteers (UK). CONCLUSION: Establishing a comprehensive EoL care volunteer service for patients in non-specialist palliative care wards involves multiple considerations including training, creating awareness and ensuring management support. Implementation requires involvement of stakeholders in a way that enables medical EoL care and volunteering to co-exist. Further research is needed to explore how trust and equal partnerships between volunteers and professional staff can be built and sustained. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT04678310. Registered 21/12/2020.

Evaluation of Incoming Messages to WhatsApp Communication Network Created by Volunteers in Major Disasters: The Case of Turkey Earthquake.

OBJECTIVE: This research was conducted in order to assess the 1-week aid needs determined by the health professional who voluntarily served in the WhatsApp communication network during the earthquakes in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. METHODS: This descriptive retrospective epidemiological study focuses on the 1-week messaging activities of the WhatsApp group created by volunteers after the earthquake in Turkey. During the 7-day period included in the research, a total of 5813 messages were sent. 3472 of these messages were not included in the research for various reasons, and a total of 2341 messages were used for the research. RESULTS: In all 7 days, it was seen that most of the messages were sent via text message and that voice messages were very few. When the distribution of the needs demanded by the earthquake victims for 7 days was examined, it was seen that there was a significant increase in the needs on the fourth day after the earthquake, and that the highest increase was the need for tents. CONCLUSION: While the demands for rescue services increased in the first 2 days, it was determined that the demands for water especially, dry food, and tents increased from the third day onwards. It is suggested that a professional online infrastructure system should be created to enable the transfer of instant scene and need information that can be activated in such disasters.

Supporting each other: Older adults' experiences empowering food security and social inclusion in rural and food desert communities.

Older adults vulnerable to food insecurity are at risk of poor psychological and physical health. Poor public infrastructure or proximity to food sources can exacerbate risk of food insecurity. Reduced statutory services for social care has heightened the responsibility on third sector organisations and community-led volunteering, essential to supporting healthy ageing in place and reducing the inequalities of ageing. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore how older adults' volunteering with a third sector organisation focused on food access supports food security and builds social capital for socially or economically marginalised older adults within rural and food desert communities. The study aims to bridge the knowledge gap of how volunteering in vulnerable geographies affects food insecurity and community. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven older (55+) volunteer 'meal makers' working with the third sector organisation Food Train and its 'Meal Makers' project. Interview recordings were transcribed and thematically analysed. Ecomap methodology was used to illustrate the lived experiences of older adult volunteers as told through the interviews. Two themes were identified by Thematic Analysis: (1) Networks, connectedness, and exposure to social capital, and (2) Supplementary support. This study finds that older adult volunteers are well placed within community interventions supporting food insecure older adults in rural or food desert communities. Ecomaps demonstrated that high social capital volunteers can mediate food access barriers and highlighted points of local knowledge and social connection. Volunteer engagement provides opportunities for food secure older adults to share local knowledge and build networks of food support and social inclusion for food insecure older adults. Older age volunteering should be advocated as a multi-faceted intervention promoting mutual health and wellbeing in volunteer and beneficiary.

Engaging underrepresented groups in community physical activity initiatives: a qualitative study of parkrun in the UK.

BACKGROUND: Underrepresented groups, including racial/ethnic minority groups and individuals with low socioeconomic status face complex barriers to engaging in community-based health initiatives. This research uses parkrun, an outdoor, mass-participation, weekly physical activity and volunteering initiative, to explore the engagement strategies ('outreach activities') that have been used to promote the inclusivity and diversity of parkrun events. METHODS: Ten adult parkrun Ambassadors who fulfilled volunteer roles that involved promoting parkrun to underrepresented groups in the UK were interviewed. Interviews took place via telephone or video call in April-July 2021. Interview transcripts were analysed thematically. RESULTS: Engagement strategies implemented by Ambassadors varied from opportunistic promotion within communities to strategic negotiations at higher decision-making levels. Approaches were characterised by a community-centred focus that ensured community networks and assets were utilised. Stories were considered valuable indicators of successful outreach. A common challenge to outreach for Ambassadors was limited personal and organisational capacity that impeded the widescale scope, reach and scalability of parkrun's engagement attempts. CONCLUSIONS: Parkrun Ambassadors have used a wide range of outreach activities at different levels of influence. A number of challenges to doing sustainable and effective outreach have been highlighted that need to be addressed. Working with and alongside communities where community-based health initiatives events take place to understand how to address inclusivity issues could contribute to greater participation by underrepresented groups.

Study protocol of the 'HEAL-HOA' dual randomized controlled trial: Testing the effects of volunteering on loneliness, social, and mental health in older adults.

Background: Interventions to reduce loneliness in older adults usually do not show sustained effects. One potential way to combat loneliness is to offer meaningful social activities. Volunteering has been suggested as one such activity - however, its effects on loneliness remain to be tested in randomized controlled trials (RCT). Methods: This planned Dual-RCT aims to recruit older adults experiencing loneliness, with subsequent randomization to either a volunteering condition (6 weeks of training before delivering one of three tele-based loneliness interventions to older intervention recipients twice a week for 6 months) or to an active control condition (psycho-education with social gatherings for six months). Power analyses require the recruitment of N = 256 older adults to detect differences between the volunteering and the active control condition (128 in each) on the primary outcome of loneliness (UCLA Loneliness Scale). Secondary outcomes comprise social network engagement, perceived social support, anxiety and depressive symptoms, self-rated health, cognitive health, perceived stress, sleep quality, and diurnal cortisol (1/3 of the sample). The main analyses will comprise condition (volunteering vs. no-volunteering) × time (baseline, 6-, 12-, 18-, 24-months follow-ups) interactions to test the effects of volunteering on loneliness and secondary outcomes. Effects are expected to be mediated via frequency, time and involvement in volunteering. Discussion: If our trial can show that volunteers delivering one of the three telephone-based interventions to lonely intervention recipients benefit from volunteer work themselves, this might encourage more older adults to volunteer, helping to solve some of the societal issues involved with rapid demographic changes.

Mechanisms through which befriending services may impact the health of older adults: A dyadic qualitative investigation.

Befriending services are often delivered to older adults with a view to improving social connectedness, but they may also lead to improved health. The objective of the current study was to explore potential mechanisms through which befriending services might impact the health of older adults. Data were collected from 13 befriendee-befriender dyads (n = 26), using a constructivist grounded theory and dyadic analytic approach. Potential mechanisms were described, using a realist evaluative framework of mechanistic processes in a complex intervention context. Five mechanisms of action triggered by the intervention were identified: supporting health behaviours; providing emotional support; improving mood; getting cognitive stimulation and novelty; and providing opportunities for socialising. We identified five potential mechanisms through which befriending services might impact health for older people. Our results suggest potential mechanisms through which befriending might positively impact the health of older people, and which should be evaluated empirically in future research.

"Don't fuss at our staff": A moral economy of volunteerism in South Carolina safety net clinics.

In South Carolina, a state that has foregone Medicaid expansion, working poor residents often rely on safety net clinics for medical care. This care often occurs far from major hospitals, in different, inferior, spaces where limited services are provided in lesser circumstances. The temporary and conditional aid provided in these clinics is meant as a last resort, but often serves as the only source of care for many working poor patients, who must manage the effects of sustained precarity and protracted immiseration with conditional aid provided by volunteers. Here I explore the function that volunteering plays in regulating patients' utilization, and ability to contest, the quality of safety net care. Using ethnographic examples and interview data I show how the needs of patients-referred to in the clinics as "clients"-are managed and contained by a moral economy of volunteer care. These reciprocal obligations of debt and duty preclude working poor patients from making demands of, or lodging complaints against, the free clinics' staff, due to their capacity as volunteers, and leaves the state's safety net effectively unassailable to accusations of inefficacy or neglect. Consequently, patients must defer care, ignore episodes of maltreatment, and ration and share prescription medications, lest they be considered recusant or deemed not sufficiently appreciative of the volunteer staff dedicating their time to them. As a result of this moral economy, the plight of the state's uninsured working poor residents goes under-recognized as the safety net absorbs their cases, hiding the attritional nature of the ostensibly free care they receive and ration.

Relational Harm: On the Divisive Effects of Global Health Volunteering at a Hospital in Rural Zambia.

Drawing on ethnographic research at a hospital in rural Zambia, I show how the presence of white Christian medical volunteers from the United States damaged relations between local health workers and patients. Working from a position of economic and racial privilege, medical volunteers received praise from many patients and residents. However, these positive attitudes incited resentment among many Zambian health workers who felt that their own efforts and expertise were being undervalued or ignored. Focusing on these disrupted relationships, I argue that it is crucial to understand how global health volunteering can produce enduring forms of "relational harm".

Promotion of Values Education (Factors Involved in Prosocial Behaviors and Volunteering).

(1) Background: Prosocial behavior aligns with the current societal model, where human values hold greater importance considering cultural, social, and personal variables that may influence the opportunity to benefit others. Hence, the objective of this research was established: to understand how diverse factors influence the values of young people, aiming to promote education and enhance prosocial behavior. (2) Methods: This study is quantitative research employing an empirical-analytical, cross-sectional social research method. A validated instrument was used with a sample of 1702 individuals from the city of Melilla, noteworthy for its multicultural context due to its location in North Africa. (3) Results: Inferential analysis was conducted using multiple linear regression to predict future behaviors, focusing on the factors influencing values. Various models were employed, incorporating twelve variables and four scales: sociability, transcendence, culture, and effects. (4) Conclusions: The results and conclusions suggest the need to enhance affect and sociability, primarily among the most prominent factors.

Valuing the contribution of sport volunteering to subjective wellbeing: evidence from eight European countries.

Introduction: Volunteering is a prominent and integral aspect of the activities undertaken by sports clubs in Europe. However, even with its growing importance, quantifying the monetary worth of this nonmarket activity, in terms of wellbeing, can present certain difficulties. Traditional approaches to valuing volunteering (i.e., replacement and opportunity cost approaches) do not fully capture the value of volunteering to individuals, as they do not consider the intangible benefits that individuals may derive from their participation. Methods: This research provides added value to the monetisation of volunteering in sport by applying the wellbeing valuation approach (WVA) for the first time to a cross-sectional data in eight European countries. A double instrumental variable approach was developed to correct for unobservable variables that may influence the pairs: income and subjective wellbeing (SWB), and volunteering and SWB. This allows to estimate the causal impact of volunteering and income on SWB more accurately and assign a reasonable monetary value to this non-market activity. Results: The results, based on a sample size of 1,091, show an income compensation for a volunteer, devoting on average 8.7 hours during a four-week period of €16 to €50 per hour, equivalent to between € 1,700 and € 5,200 per year, depending on the nationality of the volunteer. Discussion: With these estimations insights into the value of volunteering in sports are provided, contributing to a better understanding of how this activity can be valued and supported. By recognising and accurately valuing the contributions of volunteers, sport organizations and policymakers can develop more effective strategies for promoting and supporting volunteering in sports.

The contribution of community service during the transition to adulthood to health in adulthood.

Prior studies have linked young people's community service to indicators of health, yet little research takes the long view by connecting youth's community service to health in the next decade of life. Using a lifespan developmental lens, this study examined community service over the transition to adulthood and uses change over time in community service to predict indicators of behavioral, physical, and psychological health at ages 35 and 40. Data were taken from Monitoring the Future U.S. national multi-cohort data spanning ages 18-40 in high school cohorts from 1976 to 1995 for age 40 (N = 4300) and 1976 to 2000 for age 35 (N = 5879). Models estimated a growth curve model for community service from ages 18 to 30 and found that the slope for community service was associated with alcohol use, binge drinking, marijuana use, healthy behaviors, and life satisfaction at ages 35 and 40, with cigarette use at age 35 only, and with self-esteem and depressive symptoms at age 40 only. Less decline in community service over the transition to adulthood was associated with lower substance use, more healthy behaviors, and higher psychological well-being in adulthood. This study contributes evidence that community service and health are linked across the lifespan and suggests the value of examining the long-term implications of developmental change across adolescence and the transition to adulthood.

The Significance of Potential Volunteering in Late Adulthood: A Janus-Faced Perspective.

This article examines the efficacy of volunteering potential regarding actual volunteering at a later point in time. Volunteering potential consists of two components: past volunteering and the intention to do so in the future. Using two-wave panel data from the German Transitions and Old Age Potential (TOP) study with 1,196 respondents born between 1942 and 1958, binary logistic regression estimates reveal significant adjusted average marginal effects of both potential components on actual volunteering at a later stage (intention: +8.4 percentage points, past volunteering: +6.3 percentage points). Considering both components as an interaction term, analyses provide mixed results. By taking greater account of the potential volunteers, scholars and policy-makers will have better insights into how to assess recruitment potential among older adults.

Equity and empowerment effects: Multiple styles of 'voluntarism' in community-based health projects.

Community health workers (CHW) are individuals with no formal health training who perform various roles to address health disparities. There are long-sustained debates over how different forms of incentives shape CHW programs, which are often staffed with volunteer or minimally remunerated women. These debates are complicated by the diversity of CHW roles and contexts in which they work. Evidence is particularly scant around "change-agent" style CHWs, who shape health knowledge and norms within their community. This paper addresses this gap through an analysis of a change agent-staffed program that provided nutrition participatory education through women's groups in three eastern Indian sites. We examine how contextual factors across sites shaped change-agent management, and analyze the implications of each approach for efficacy, empowerment, and equity. Analyzing 68 interviews and 10 focus groups this study advances a typology of 'varieties' of voluntarism that we name laissez faire, active-cultivation, and honorarium-accountability, and uses comparative analysis to examine the equity and empowerment effects within selection, management, and payment. First, we find tensions in the community-based selection of volunteers because rather than selecting highly motivated women, groups selected women in the most favorable socioeconomic position to volunteer. Second, there is a tension around responsibility and expectations in that greater training and responsibility leads women to see more psychosocial empowerment (e.g., knowledge, confidence), but also may create more 'costs' to participation and leads to wider economic inequities in change-agent ranks. Third, we observe a misplaced focus on payments as central to change-agent motivation. While the two volunteer-only sites see payment as 'the answer' to motivation problems, the honorarium site sees payments as 'the problem' because they attract less intrinsically motivated individuals. We conclude that while payments may not make an unmotivated volunteer into a motivated one, this analysis suggests payments would potentially allow more marginalized women to participate, which may be key to making more equitable and efficacious impacts.

Volunteering and instrumental support during the first phase of the pandemic in Europe: the significance of COVID-19 exposure and stringent country's COVID-19 policy.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 control policies might negatively impact older adults' participation in volunteer work, instrumental support provision, and the likelihood of receiving instrumental support. Studies that quantify changes in these activities and the related factors are limited. The current study aimed to examine the level of volunteering, instrumental support provision and receipt before and during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe and to determine whether older adults' volunteering, instrumental support provision and receipt were associated with individual exposure to COVID-19 and the stringency of country's COVID-19 control policy during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) Corona Survey 1 was designed to focus on community-dwelling Europeans aged ≥50 years. History of participation in volunteering work and instrumental support provision or receipt was assessed from the previous SHARE Wave data. The country's COVID-19 control policy stringency index (S-Index) was from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker database. A total of 45,669 respondents from 26 European countries were included in the volunteering analysis. Seventeen European countries were included in the analyses of instrumental support provision (N = 36,518) and receipt (N = 36,526). The multilevel logistic regression model was fitted separately to analyse each activity. RESULTS: The level of volunteering and instrumental support provision was lower during the pandemic, but instrumental support receipt was higher. The country S-Index was positively associated with support provision (OR:1.13;95%CI:1.02-1.26) and negatively associated with support receipt (OR:0.69;95%CI:0.54-0.88). Exposure to COVID-19 was positively associated with support receipt (OR:1.64;95%CI:1.38-1.95). COVID-19 exposure on close ones positively associated with volunteering (OR:1.47;95%CI:1.32-1.65), support provision (OR:1.28;95%CI:1.19-1.39), and support receipt (OR:1.25;95%CI:1.15-1.35). CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic impacted older Europeans' volunteering, instrumental support provision, and instrumental support receipt from outside their household. When someone close to them was exposed to COVID-19, older Europeans were likely to receive instrumental support and to volunteer and provide instrumental support. A stricter country's COVID-19 control policy might motivate older adults to provide instrumental support, but it prevents them from receiving instrumental support from outside their households.

Long-term Impacts of Civic Engagement during Emerging Adulthood: A Nationally-representative Study.

PURPOSE: We examined if civic engagement during emerging adulthood positively impacted a broad array of outcomes in middle adulthood, and if associations varied based on race, gender, age, and urban-rural status. DESIGN: Prospective design used to determine if civic engagement during emerging adulthood (M age = 21.81) predicted outcomes 15 years later. SETTING: Restricted data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. SUBJECTS: Wave 1 participants who completed surveys 7 years (77% follow-up rate), 14 years (80% follow-up rate), and 22 years later (follow-up rate 72%) and who had valid sampling weight to ensure national representativeness (n = 9349). MEASURES: Predictor - civic engagement; Outcomes-mental health, substance use, criminal behaviors, and healthy behavior. ANALYSIS: Linear regression using MPLUS 7.2. RESULTS: Civic engagement predicted lower levels of depressive symptoms (b = -1.05, SE = .28), criminal behaviors (b = -.47, SE = .12), and substance use (b = -.66, SE = .13), and higher levels of healthy behaviors (b = 1.26, SE = .19), after controlling for demographics, family, peer, neighborhood, and school-related background variables. Moderation analyses revealed that civic engagement benefited females and white participants more. CONCLUSION: Civic engagement during emerging adulthood has a positive impact on a broad array of outcomes in middle adulthood. Implications and future research recommendations will be discussed.

A qualitative synthesis of practice-based learning from case studies on COVID community champion programmes in England, UK.

BACKGROUND: Community-based volunteering supports outbreak management by extending reach into at-risk communities. This paper examines the application of a 'community champions' model in England, UK, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence pre-pandemic shows that community champion interventions tap into social networks to strengthen connections with disadvantaged communities. During the pandemic, the UK government set up a COVID community champions funding award scheme for local authorities to develop local programmes that addressed emerging inequalities. The study aim was to identify transferable learning on community engagement in the pandemic by undertaking a secondary qualitative synthesis of practice-based case studies of local COVID community champion programmes. METHODS: A systematic staged approach for synthesis of practice-based case studies was used. In total, 16 COVID community champion case studies, which were written by practitioners involved in local programme implementation and published by the Local Government Association, were included. Case studies covered aims, programme development and delivery, examples of activities and a discussion of learning. Framework qualitative analysis methods were used to code and organise data prior to cross case analysis. The final stage produced an overarching thematic framework that best represented descriptive and interpretive themes. RESULTS: The results provide an overview of common features of COVID community champion programmes and emergent learning. All local programmes aimed to reduce health inequalities by involving at-risk communities in local prevention efforts, adapting the approach to local priorities. Two levels of community engagement were volunteer mobilisation and subsequent community-based outreach activities. Elements of capacity building, such as training and creation of networks, were common. The synthesis of practice-based learning found that stronger relationships with communities were regarded as a key mechanism to support more equitable prevention strategies. Other learning themes related to champion roles, community engagement strategies and programme implementation. CONCLUSIONS: By focusing on how community champion approaches were applied by local authorities in England during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study contributes to knowledge on volunteer mobilisation as a mechanism to improve public health communication and outreach. Notwithstanding the limitations of experiential evidence, the synthesis of practice-based learning highlights potentially transferable community engagement strategies for health protection and health improvement.

Social Capital and Formal Volunteering Among Family and Unpaid Caregivers of Older Adults.

Using data from 1745 caregivers in the National Study of Caregiving (2017), this study explores the connection between caregiving and formal volunteering by identifying the relationship between social capital and formal volunteering among family and other unpaid caregivers of older adults. In addition, this study examines the representative prevalence of formal volunteering in caregivers. We conducted logistic regression models along with established volunteerism correlates from the prior research literature. Approximately a quarter of caregivers participated in volunteering (25.4%). Being male, having higher educational attainment, being a spouse, living separately from the care recipient, caregiving for multiple care recipients, having a better quality of relationship with the care recipient, having better psychological well-being, receiving more social support, attending religious services, and participating in group activity were positively associated with formal volunteer participation. Findings underscore the role of both human and social capital, including the caregiving context, in formal volunteering among caregivers.

Facilitating Volunteer Engagement Among Older Adults in Social Services: A Case Study of an Innovative Timebank Program in a Chinese Society.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Exploring the roles of older adults as volunteers in social care settings has attracted wide attention to facilitate healthy aging and tackle care workforce constraints. However, there is little knowledge of the mechanism of engaging older adults as volunteers in the social care sector. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The study applies a case study to describe the features of an innovative timebank project, Good Hands, and explore the underlying mechanism of engaging older adults as volunteers in the social care sector. Three focus groups were conducted with 12 older adult volunteers and 6 advisory group members. Thematic analysis was applied to code and analyze the content of the focus group interviews. RESULTS: Three emergent themes were identified as critical components: strong cross-sector collaboration, meaningfulness in voluntary work comprising 4 subthemes (including capacity optimization, care capacity enhancement, cultivating belonging, and value recognition), and a coproducing environment. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Volunteer engagement of older adults in the provision of welfare for community-based care for frail peers is discussed, and practice implications are presented.

Do Internalized Age Stereotypes Mediate the Relationship Between Volunteering and Self-Efficacy for Adults 50+ Years of Age?

This cross-sectional study examined whether internalized age stereotypes mediate the relationship between volunteering and self-efficacy for adults 50+ years of age. A convenience sample of volunteers (n = 173) residing in the United States of America Mountain West completed a 15-min, online survey. The independent variable was number of volunteer hours per week (mean = 6.44, SD = 5.50). The dependent variable was self-efficacy measured by five, four-point items from the general self-efficacy scale (α = .83; mean = 3.57, SD = .38). The indirect effects of five internalized positive and five negative age stereotypes were tested. Results indicate that increased internalized positive, but not negative, age stereotypes partially mediated the relationship between volunteer hours and self-efficacy. Although positive age stereotypes have long been considered a form of ageism, the findings suggest that internalized positive age stereotypes may function as a form of esteem to enhance psychosocial well-being.

Could 70 Be the New 60? Investigating the Association Between Internet Use and Subjective Age Among Chinese Older Adults.

OBJECTIVES: The widespread use of the Internet brings both opportunities and challenges for older adults. To understand its potential benefits and drawbacks, we focus on the association between Internet use and multiple indicators of subjective age (threshold age, felt age, and look age) and the underlying mechanisms. METHODS: A nationally representative sample of older adults aged 60 and over from 3 waves (collected in 2016, 2018, and 2020) of the China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey was used in the analysis. A 3-step random-effect model and mediation analysis were used to examine the relationship between Internet use and subjective age and the mediating roles of volunteering and feeling valued by society. Structural equation modeling with a serial multiple mediation model was conducted for robustness checks. RESULTS: The participants generally considered 70 as the threshold for "old age." Although the mediation analysis did not show a significant indirect effect of Internet use on older adults' subjective age through volunteering, Internet use was linked with older adults' subjective age directly and indirectly through feeling valued by society. Compared to moderate Internet users, nonusers felt less valued by society and, therefore, had a younger threshold age and older subjective ages. Heavy Internet users showed a lower level of participation in volunteer activities. DISCUSSION: The results support previous theories about the mental and social health benefits of Internet use among older adults. However, Internet use intensity should receive more attention; excessive use may reduce the duration of older adults' offline social interactions.