Volunteering with mild cognitive impairment: implications for subsequent cognitive changes

Volunteering has cognitive benefits in later life and has been theorized to protect against Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). A small but growing body of volunteer programs target people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI)-who are presumably at elevated risk for ADRD, but we know surprisingly little about who volunteers with MCI and how volunteering affects their subsequent cognitive changes. The current study sought to address these gaps.

We used longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (2002-2018) and identified a pooled sample of 6,930 midlife and older adults (aged 50+) who met criteria for MCI based on their cognitive scores on the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status. We tracked these participants' sociodemographic characteristics, volunteer activities, and cognitive scores in the subsequent 4 years.

A two-level logistic regression showed that among midlife and older adults with MCI, those who attained more years of education, had greater wealth, reported a history of volunteering, and had better self-rated health as well as fewer functional limitations were more likely to report volunteering in the presence of MCI. Volunteers with MCI-particularly those who continuously volunteered or initiated volunteering-exhibited more positive cognitive changes over time.

This study highlights the importance of socioeconomic resources and health in predicting volunteering with MCI and reveals lasting cognitive benefits of volunteering as midlife and older adults adjust to their cognitive impairment. Findings call for more tailored volunteer opportunities for people with MCI.