OLDER ADULTS' PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH IN VOLUNTEERS AND NON-VOLUNTEERS. Ching-Yi Wang*1; Sharon L. Olson2; Chung-Chao Liang3 1. Physical Therapy, Tzu-Chi College of Technology, Hualien , Taiwan; 2. Physical Therapy, Texas Woman's University, Houston, TX; 3. Rehabilitation, Tzu-Chi Hospital, Hualien, Taiwan PURPOSE: The purpose of this preliminary study was to assess the physical and mental health of older adults who do or do not participate in volunteer work. BACKGROUNDS/SIGNIFICANCE: Older adults might experience social withdrawal as a result of retirement and other life changes. Volunteering can reduce feelings of powerless that accompany the transition to retirement and promote successful aging. SUBJECTS: Seventy volunteer workers who were at least 60 years of age were recruited from a religion-related volunteer program at a medical center. Seventy gender and age-matched older adults who participated in activities at a community center but did not participate in any kind of volunteer work were recruited from a local community. Subjects who had unstable heart disease, unstable high blood pressure, neurological disorders, or inability to tolerate the performance tests were excluded. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Subject's physical health was assessed with a battery of physical performance tests and his/her mental health was measured by Chinese version of the Geriatric Depression Scale (C-GDS). Physical performance tests included fast gait speed, timed up & go (TUG), 6-minute walk (6MW), and timed 5 chair stands. ANALYSES: Group differences in the physical performance tests and GDS were tested with five paired t-tests with significance level at 0.01. RESULTS: Two tests showed significant group differences: C-GDS (t(67)=4.34, p<0.0005) and TUG (t(65)=2.99, p=0.004). The C-GDS for the volunteer and non- volunteer group was 4.4 points (+/-5.2) and 8.0 points (+/-5.6), respectively. The TUG for volunteer and non-volunteer group was 7.8 seconds (+/-1.2) and 8.7 seconds (+/- 2.2), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Older adults who participated in religion-based hospital volunteer work demonstrated less depression and better functional mobility compared to those who did not participate in any volunteer work but active in community center activities. However, the cause-effect relationship between volunteering and health improvement need to be ascertained in future longitudinal study and to explore if participating in volunteer work is one possible strategy for successful aging. FUNDING SOURCE: This study was partially funded by a grant from National Science Council (NSC92-2314-B-277-003) from Taiwan in the year of 2003. KEYWORDS: Mental Health, older adult, volunteering, successful aging, physical health Copyright 2009 by the American Physical Therapy Association. Requests for reprints should be directed to the corresponding author of the article. Educators, students, and other academic customers may receive permission to reprint copyrighted material from Physical Therapy (ISSN 1538-6724) by contacting the Copyright Clearance Center Inc, 222 Rosewood Dr, Danvers, MA 01923. Other types of customers who want permission to reprint should contact the APTA Editorial Office, Attn: Physical Therapy.