Participation in Volunteer and Lifelong Learning Activities among Older Persons in Romania
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Participation in Volunteer and Lifelong Learning Activities among Older Persons in Romania
Abstract
The aim of this article is to assess the level of involvement of Romanian older persons in volunteer activities and lifelong learning, as well as the factors that restrict their participation. To respond to this objective, a survey among older persons (65 years and over) was conducted at national level. Our study reveals that Romanian older persons reported a very low participation rate in volunteer activities organized by different organizations and the main reason was the lack of information regarding the availability of such activities in the community where they live or the poor health status. Regarding the participation in volunteer activities people aged 75-84, men or respondents living in rural areas have the highest rates of participation. In case of older persons enrolled in lifelong learning courses, less than ten percent of respondents selected at least one course they attended over the last 12 months. Male respondents had a higher participation rate compared to women in healthy lifestyle courses. The results of our study highlight the need for appropriate medium and long-term policy measures in the field of active ageing.
Keywords
older persons, volunteer activities, lifelong learning participation, education.
JEL Classification
I20, I25, J14, J17.
1. Introduction
Demographic changes, transformations in the structure of the traditional family, technological and economic disruption strongly affect population of all ages. Not only at the European level, but also internationally, the older population is increasingly regarded as a valuable resource for society, and their potential and life experience are important assets in society.
Involvement in volunteer and lifelong learning activities have positive effects on the overall wellbeing of older persons (WHO, 2007), contribute to social integration and is related to health benefits (Pricipi, Schippers, Naegele, Di Rosa & Lamura, 2016). Despite advantages, older persons involvement remains low in certain countries due to cultural heritage with regard to the role and public image of older persons, lack of opportunities and higher costs etc. (Stefanik, Cabus & Ilieva, 2018).
Several studies (Naegele, Schnabel, Van de Maat, Kubicki, Chiatti & Rostgaard, 2011; Pricipi et al., 2016) researched the internal and external mechanisms that drive the involvement of older persons in volunteer activities, pointing that older persons are different in lifestyles, values, life experiences, health condition. These characteristics influence the type and level of involvement in voluntary activities. European studies researched the driving factors of the engagement in voluntary activities and lifelong learning, for the purpose of providing information for stakeholders and policy makers (Pricipi et al., 2016).
National quantitative studies regarding the involvement of older persons in volunteer activities and lifelong learning courses in relation to barriers to this participation, are scarce. Understanding how older persons at national level could be involved in voluntary activities and lifelong learning, as part of active ageing strategies, should be further supported by evidence.
The aim of this paper is to identify the level of involvement in volunteer and lifelong learning activities of older persons (aged 65 years old and over) and barriers to the involvement in different learning activities in old age.
2. Literature Review
Positive effects of social participation among older persons, such as volunteer activities and lifelong learning have been pointed in studies of World Health Organization (WHO) (2007).
Other studies (Lee, 2022) also highlight that the involvement in volunteer activities is proven to be beneficial at individual level as it allows maintaining good social connections, the sense of utility, a good physical and emotional health status. Qualitative studies (Ghența & Matei, 2021) reported that participation of older persons from rural areas in volunteer church-related activities proved to be beneficial and should be applied to other domains of interest within the community.
Participation in lifelong learning activities contributes to a good health status, social connections, civic participation (UNESCO, 2021). In relation to long-term care systems, older persons could be involved both as transmitters and receivers of the acquired knowledge throughout their professional life. These could be useful in case of those older persons who are receiving long-term care in residential settings, or those who are isolated or have a limited physical autonomy.
2.1. Volunteer activities
Volunteering consists in the participation of a person in public interest activities that are useful to other people, activities organized by legal entities under public or private law, without being remunerated for this (Gedvilienė & Karasevičiūtė, 2013). The effects of the involvement of the older persons in volunteer activities may be grouped into individual effects, social effects and economic effects (Cook & Sladowski, 2013; Gedvilienė & Karasevičiūtė, 2013; Naegele et al., 2011). The effects at the individual level may be observed in physical health – improvement of physical functioning, psychological, emotional health – lower levels of stress, anxiety, depression, improvement of quality of life, life satisfaction, self-esteem, etc. and brain health – high-complexity leisure activities such as volunteering, protect brain health.
Studies of Cook and Sladowski (2013), as well as WHO (2007) have identified various barriers that hinder the involvement of the older persons in volunteer activities, including the location of the coordinating organization (in many regions it is outside the city and older people may be more interested in direct interventions in their vicinity) and transport, which may raise problems for the older persons due to availability, cost, accessibility, parking spaces. Other barriers are the strict schedule of activities, which no longer gives the participants the flexibility to travel or to take care of their health and other aspects of their lives. The lack of long-term commitment of volunteers, the parental or grandchildren care responsibilities, the language, and cultural barriers, finding a place to stay (some volunteer activities requiring a temporary change of residence), the need to adapt to new technologies and the access to information about volunteering, as well as previous negative experiences are also important barriers.
The strategies to encourage (Cook & Sladowski, 2013) older people to get involved in different forms of volunteering consist of promoting well-being during the transition period and promoting individual development. The transition period from active life to retirement involves life planning under various aspects, such as financial, reconfiguration of daily activities, establishment of housing conditions.
2.2. Lifelong learning courses
Lifelong learning refers to the continuous improvements and developments of skills and knowledge of each individual (European Commission, 1995). The lifelong learning activities are of particular importance for older persons, as they create opportunities to communicate, to socialize and to collaborate. According to Boudiny (2013), many studies analyse the effects of lifelong learning strategies on younger-old, although the positive effects reach all the older subgroups. Particularly for older persons, lifelong learning activities generate positive effects in terms of improvements of quality of life, wellbeing, and cognitive function (Noble, Medin, Quail, Young & Carter, 2021). Other studies reported that in case of older persons in risk of loneliness/isolation or depression, participation in non-formal lifelong learning has benefits for the psychological wellbeing (Narushima, Liu & Diestelkamp, 2018).
Barriers that hinder participation in lifelong learning activities differ from one country to another, but they are mainly related to personal reasons, different characteristics/variables like age, education level, gender, socio-economic status or may be generated by the cultural context (Desjardins, 2015). In a comparative study, Desjardins (2015) proposes that the outcomes of such policies responses encourage, among others, active ageing measures, community learning, and flexible learning methods. A change in perspective among policy makers should promote lifelong learning measures considering the positive effects on wellbeing and health (Narushima et al., 2018).
3. Methodology
The following research objectives were addressed in this article:
- What is the level of involvement of Romanian older persons in volunteer and lifelong learning activities?
- What types of learning courses attended older persons during the last 12 months before the research?
- Which factors hinder the participation of older persons in volunteer and lifelong learning activities?
We conducted a survey among older persons (aged 65 and over) in Romania in order to sustain the evidence outlined by the article. Data were collected between November 11-27 of 2021 using a methodology developed by authors within the project PN 19130401/2019. The sample was stratified according to development regions (eight regions), locality type (large urban, medium-small, and rural), and residential area (urban, rural). In selecting the number of localities, the allocation of at least 7 interviews per locality/sampling point was considered.
The target population of the survey was represented by Romanian non-institutionalized people aged 65 and over, the total volume of the sample being 802 older adults, aged 65 years and over. The sampling error of the survey was ± 3.5% for the national sample. The rate of refusal to participate in the survey was around 25%, mainly due to fears of COVID-19, especially in urban areas (large urban localities).
The questionnaire was applied using the CAPI method (face-to-face interviews assisted by the operator and completed on the tablet). The application used was VoxCo (interview platform that also allows the application of questionnaires offline). Respondents were asked, at the beginning of the interview, to agree on the quality control of data collection and processing of opinions, all ethical issues regarding confidentiality, informed consent and anonymity being addressed during the process of data collection. Respondents were able to make multiple selections in case of reasons for non-participation in volunteer activities and lifelong learning courses attended. Data collected were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics 21.
4. Results
4.1. Older persons’ involvement in volunteer activities, over the last 12 months
Out of the total respondents (N: 802), 95.1% did not participate in volunteer activities organized by different institutions over the last 12 months, while 4.6% took part in such activities over the same period of time. Considering the low rate of participation in volunteer activities among older Romanians, public and private organisations may consider the promotion of volunteerism among the older persons through the development of programs and projects, the establishment of community centres, the coordination of older volunteers, the increase of awareness regarding the benefits of volunteering and the understanding of the Romanian cultural and economic characteristics (e.g. low level of income in old age, poor image of older persons in society, low interest for volunteering regardless of age), which can constitute barriers to participation in volunteer activities.
The disaggregated analysis of the data by age, sex and place of residence reveals that the older persons aged 75-84, men or persons from rural areas are reported to have the highest rates of participation in volunteer activities over the last 12 months (5.9%, 5.8%, respectively 5.8%). Out of the total of older respondents who got involved in volunteer activities (N: 37), 35.1% participated monthly, 56.8% participated several times over the last 12 months, and 8.1% participated only once. Participation was slightly higher for the persons aged 65-74 (37.5% participated monthly), in case of women (35.3% participated monthly) and in case of people from urban areas (43.8% participated monthly).
4.2. Reasons for non-participation in volunteer activities of older persons
Out of the total number of older persons who did not participate in volunteer activities in the last year (N: 763), 45.5% were not informed of the organization of such activities in their community, 38.8% mentioned that their health condition did not allowed participation, 26.9% were prevented by the pandemic context, 20.3% were not interested and 4.7% mentioned other reasons (lack of time, responsibilities related to caring for dependent family members and children, etc.). When analysing the data disaggregated by sex, it is observed that for women the impediments related to the state of health are more frequent than in the case of men (45.7%, respectively 29.4%). According to the area of residence, among the persons from rural area, a frequently mentioned reason is that they were not informed of such activities (58%), this reason being less often mentioned by the respondents from the urban area (35.5%). A higher percentage of non-participation due to poor health status can be observed for people aged 85 and over (71.1% compared to 33.6% for those aged 65-74).
4.3. Older persons enrolled in lifelong learning courses, over the last 12 months
Out of the total number of older respondents (N: 802), 53 persons (6.6%) selected at least one course that they attended over the last 12 months before the survey. Of these, 62.3% attended courses on a healthy lifestyle, 26.4% attended courses on computer/internet usage, 54.7% attended courses on disease prevention and 1.9% participated in other courses. Some of the respondents (37.7%) attended more than one type of course over the last 12 months.
Out of the 802 participants in the survey, 4.1% attended healthy lifestyle courses, 1.7% attended courses on disease prevention, 3.6% attended computer and internet usage courses and 0.1% took part in other courses, such as fishing (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Participation in lifelong learning, last 12 months
Source: INCSMPS (2021)
- Regarding the healthy lifestyle courses, men were reported to have a higher participation rate than women – 5.8% compared to 2.8%. Older persons in urban areas were more interested in attending healthy lifestyle courses, compared to those in the rural areas – 5.4% compared to 2.5%. A decrease in participation in continuing education can be observed while the age increases, from 4.4% in case of those aged 65-74 years old to 2.6% in case of persons over 85 years old.
- Regarding the computer/internet usage courses, men also recorded a higher participation rate – 3.2%, compared to 0.7% in case of older women. The analysis of the data disaggregated by the area of residence indicates a higher participation in computer usage courses of the older persons from the urban environment, compared to those from rural areas (2%, compared to 1.4%), but participation rates are very low regardless the residence area: 2.3% for the older persons aged 65-74 to 0% for the older persons over 85 years, attended a computer/internet usage course over the last 12 months.
- Regarding the training courses in disease prevention, men were reported to have a slightly higher participation rate than women: 4.4%, compared to 3.1%. The analysis of the data disaggregated by the area of residence indicates a higher participation in courses in disease prevention for the older persons in urban areas. As age increases, the participation is lower: 4.1% for persons aged 65-74, to 0% for those aged 85 (Table 1).
| Residence area | Yes |
| Urban | 4.5% |
| Rural | 2.5% |
Table 1. Enrolment in courses on the prevention of certain diseases, last 12 months
Source: INCSMPS (2021)
Participation in other types of courses points to no significant differences between men and women – 0.0% and 0.3% respectively. The analysis of the data disaggregated by the area of residence indicates a very low participation to other courses both in urban and rural areas: 0.2% and 0%, respectively. A participation rate close to 0% is observed by age category.
4.4. Reasons for non-participation in different types of courses
Out of the total number of people who did not participate in courses on a healthy lifestyle (N: 769) over the last 12 months, most respondents (47.2%) mentioned that they did not know about the organization of such courses, 29.8% were not interested, 26.1% were prevented from participating by the pandemic context, 23.8% had a poor health status and 8.3% mentioned other reasons, such as the lack of financial resources, the lack of time, the lack of ICT devices, the lack of organization or a good communication with the family doctor who provide all the necessary information about a healthy lifestyle. No significant differences were recorded between men and women with regard to the reason for non-participation to these types of courses. Lack of information about courses was the main reason for non-participation in case of both older persons from rural and urban areas. The analysis by age category indicates that the older persons aged 65-74 and those aged 75-84 were not informed of the organization of such courses, which is why they did not participate (48% and 48.5%), while the respondents aged 85 and over were prevented from participating by poor health status (Table 2).
| Reasons for non-participation
|
Sex | Residence area | Age group | ||||
| Men
|
Women
|
Urban
|
Rural
|
65-74 years old | 75-84 years old | 85 + | |
| I did not know about the organization of such courses | 46.3% | 47.9% | 40.4% | 55.3% | 48.0% | 48.5% | 28.9% |
| Poor health status | 18.8% | 27.4% | 24.4% | 23.1% | 20.1% | 29.4% | 47.4% |
| Covid-19 pandemic context | 24.1% | 27.6% | 30.4% | 21.1% | 28.9% | 20.6% | 15.8% |
| I was not interested | 33.3% | 27.2% | 31.1% | 28.2% | 30.4% | 29.4% | 23.7% |
| Other reason | 7.1% | 9.2% | 11.0% | 5.1% | 9.1% | 5.2% | 13.2% |
Table 2. Reasons for non-participation in healthy lifestyle courses, by sex, residence area and age group
Note: Percentages are based on cases, as the participants were allowed to make multiple choices regarding the reasons for non-participation.
Source: INCSMPS (2021)
Out of the total number of persons who did not participate in computer/internet use courses (N: 788) over the last 12 months, most of them (53.7%) were not interested, 31.6% were not aware of the organization of such courses, 16.2% considered that their state of health did not allow them, 14.8% were prevented from participating by the pandemic context and 9.6% had other reasons, such as lack of financial resources, lack of time, uselessness of this course etc. Regardless of gender, the most frequent reason for not participating in ICT is the lack of interest. The analysis of the data according to the area of residence indicates that the older persons, both from urban and rural areas, did not participate in ICT courses because they were not interested. Regardless of age, the most frequent reason for not participating in ICT courses is also the lack of interest: 52.7% of the 65-74 years old participants, 56.7% of the 75-84 years old persons and 51.3% of those aged 85 years old and over (Table 3).
| Reasons for non-participation
|
Sex | Residence area | Age group | ||||
| Men
|
Women
|
Urban
|
Rural
|
65-74 years old | 75-84 years old | 85 + | |
| I did not know about the organization of such courses | 31.8% | 31.4% | 23.8% | 41.1% | 31.8% | 32.8% | 23.1% |
| Poor health status | 13.8% | 18.0% | 16.2% | 16.3% | 13.9% | 20.4% | 28.2% |
| Covid-19 pandemic context | 12.9% | 16.3% | 17.1% | 12.1% | 15.7% | 11.9% | 17.9% |
| I was not interested | 53.8% | 53.6% | 55.4% | 51.5% | 52.7% | 56.7% | 51.3% |
| Other reason | 10.8% | 8.8% | 12.2% | 6.5% | 10.8% | 6.5% | 10.3% |
Table 3. Reasons for non-participation in computer/internet usage courses, by sex, residence area and age group
Note: Percentages are based on cases, as the participants were allowed to make multiple choices regarding the reasons for non-participation.
Source: INCSMPS (2021)
Out of the total number of people who did not participate in training courses in disease prevention (N: 773), most of them (47.2%) were not aware of the organization of these courses, 33.8% were not interested, 21.3% were prevented from participating by the pandemic context, 21.5% considered that their health prevented them from participating and 8.2% had other reasons, such as lack of financial resources, lack of time, lack of ICT devices, lack of organization, good communication with the family doctor who makes these recommendations. Lack of information about courses was the main reason for non-participation in case of both men and women – 44.7% of men and 49.1% of women. The lack of availability of such courses is the main reason for non-participation in case of respondents from rural areas. The analysis by age category reveals that in case of older persons aged 65-74 and for those aged 75-84, one important reason is that they were not aware of their organization (48.9%, respectively 46.4%), while for the elderly over 85 the most frequent reason for non-participation was the poor health status (Table 4).
| Reasons for non-participation
|
Sex | Residence area | Age group | ||||
| Men
|
Women
|
Urban
|
Rural
|
65-74 years old | 75-84 years old | 85 + | |
| I did not know about the organization of such courses | 44.7% | 49.1% | 38.9% | 57.3% | 48.9% | 46.4% | 28.2% |
| Poor health status | 17.6% | 24.3% | 23.7% | 18.8% | 18.4% | 25.0% | 46.2% |
| Covid-19 pandemic context | 19.1% | 23.0% | 25.1% | 16.8% | 21.9% | 21.4% | 12.8% |
| I was not interested | 37.7% | 30.9% | 36.0% | 31.1% | 32.7% | 36.7% | 33.3% |
| Other reason | 7.9% | 8.3% | 10.9% | 4.8% | 8.4% | 6.1% | 15.4% |
Table 4. Reasons for non-participation in training courses in disease prevention, by sex, residence area and age group
Note: Percentages are based on cases, as the participants were allowed to make multiple choices regarding the reasons for non-participation.
Source: INCSMPS (2021)
5. Discussions
Our study shows that there is a small rate of participation of Romanian older persons in volunteer and lifelong learning activities and thus having a higher probability of being in a risk of isolation and poor wellbeing. The participation of older persons in volunteer activities plays an important role in keeping people active in the communities they belong to. Strategies to engage older people in such activities imply communication and exchange of experience for those individuals who have chosen to engage socially in this way.
Even if the percentage of older persons participating in volunteer activities is very low, participation in volunteer activities is greater in the case of men (aged 75-84) and persons from rural areas. An explanation to this result may be related to caring responsibilities of older women for dependents in the family (grandchildren, other dependent family member). Similarly to the results of previous studies conducted by WHO (2007), the difficulties in finding out about a volunteer activity may restrict the possibility to involve in volunteer activities. Cook and Sladowski (2013) also identified similar impediments encountered by older persons, including access to information about volunteering and the lack of organization of these activities in the neighbourhood of the older persons, the responsibility of caring for parents and grandchildren and costs associated. Poor health status prevents the involvement of Romanian older persons in volunteer activities, similarly with data reported by Naegele et al. (2011). Older persons should have opportunities to get involved in volunteer activities according to their capabilities and a change of vision regarding the sense of volunteer activities in old age is necessary (Naegele et al., 2011).
Participation to lifelong learning activities revealed that it decreases with ages, as other previous comparative studies reported (Kolland & Wanka, 2014). Not only in relation to age, but also in relation to gender, participation in learning activities may be different. Studies of Stefanik et al. (2018) found that participation of older males in learning activities is lower compared to women, while the results of our study point to a higher participation of older men. Cultural differences and context characteristics could explain various results. Participation in lifelong learning among Romanian older persons is limited due to poor health status, despite other studies that reported positive effects on quality of life due to participation in learning activities, even for older persons with chronic illness and functional difficulties (Narushima et al., 2018). Furthermore, other researches (Formosa, 2021; Kydd & Fulford, 2020; WHO, 2000) highlight also the importance of learning for older persons in home care settings. To improve the participation in learning activities among older persons, Kydd and Fulford, (2020) propose different interventions at policy level, community level and individual level, while Dobre (2022) suggests the involvement of public authorities, ICT providers, and family members of the older persons.
6. Conclusions
Volunteering and lifelong learning involvement in old age remain very low among Romanian older persons, despite positive effects that involvement in these types of activities might have. The studies concerning the involvement of older persons in volunteer activities show differences between countries with regard to engagement of people aged 65 and more in lifelong learning activities or volunteer activities (Desjardins, 2015; Naegele et al., 2011). In our study, almost none of the respondents participated in volunteer activities organized by different organizations. About half of the respondents who did not participate in volunteer activities mentioned that they were not aware of the organization of such activities in the community where they live or that their health status prevented them from participating. Persons aged 75-84, men and older people from rural areas have the highest rates of participation in volunteer activities.
Less than 10% of respondents selected at least one course they attended over the last 12 months. 4.1% attended courses on healthy lifestyles, 1.7% attended courses on disease prevention, 3.6% attended courses on computer and internet usage, and 0.1% attended other courses. Among older persons who attended lifelong learning courses, male respondents had a higher participation rate than females in healthy lifestyle courses, and so did urban respondents or those aged 65-74. Participation in computer/internet usage courses is of greater interest for men, respondents from urban areas and respondents in the 65-74 age group. In the case of courses on a healthy lifestyle, most respondents indicated that they did not know about the organization of these courses or that they were not interested in such courses. More than half of those who did not participate in computer usage courses, declared that they were not interested in such courses. In the case of information/prevention courses regarding certain diseases, 47.1% did not participate because they were not aware of their organization.
The results of our research support conclusions strictly regarding the participation/non-participation of older people in volunteer activities and lifelong learning activities. We do not have enough information about the unpaid activities that older people carry out, activities that can occupy a large part of their time and that can represent an important support for the family members (for example, taking care of grandchildren or practicing subsistence agriculture). Therefore, the results should not be understood as a lack of involvement of the older persons in social life, but as a reduced participation in the activities of interest for our research.
Some limits and strengths of our research could be highlighted. One limit of our research is that the non-participation was not analysed in relation to some social factors (marital status, health status at the time of the survey or the educational level) or type of volunteer work carried out. However, these aspects could be further researched. Due to the sample used, the results of our study could serve as a base for policy decisions to promote more opportunities for volunteering and learning among older persons. Other stakeholders (NGO’s, public long-term care providers) could use the results of this study and to further explore the possibility to attract more of these unevaluable resources that older persons possess.
In conclusion, we consider that the educational institutions, long-term care providers and social services providers should join their efforts in defining an adequate strategy to improve participation of older persons in volunteer and learning activities, considering the benefits in terms of active ageing.
Acknowledgements
This work was accomplished under the Nucleu Programme, National Plan for Research, Development and Innovation 2022-2027, supported by the Ministry of Research and Innovation (MCI), project number PN 22_10_0203. (Această lucrare a fost realizată prin Programul-nucleu, din cadrul Planului Național de Cercetare Dezvoltare și Inovare 2022-2027, derulat cu sprijinul MCI, proiect nr. PN 22_10_0203).
About the Authors
Mihaela Ghența
National Scientific Research Institute for Labour and Social Protection (INCSMPS), Bucharest, Romania
Aniela Matei
National Scientific Research Institute for Labour and Social Protection (INCSMPS), Bucharest, Romania
Elen-Silvana Bobârnaț (Crivoi)
National Scientific Research Institute for Labour and Social Protection (INCSMPS), Bucharest, Romania; University of Bucharest, Doctoral School, Bucharest, Romania
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