Helping Others Linked to Higher Level of Cognitive Function

Moderate level of helping, both formal volunteering and informal helping, consistently linked to robust cognitive benefits

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Aug. 21, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Helping others, both via formal volunteering and informal helping, is associated with higher levels of cognitive function and slower cognitive decline, according to a study published online Aug. 8 in Social Science & Medicine.

Sae Hwang Han, Ph.D., from the University of Texas at Austin, and colleagues examined the linkages between two forms of helping behaviors — formal volunteering and informal helping — and late-life cognitive function, focusing on changes in these behaviors over time. Data from two decades (1998 to 2020) for 31,303 participants from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study were used to examine how intraindividual changes in helper role status and time commitment shape cognitive function trajectories.

The researchers found that transitioning into volunteering and informal helping were both associated with a higher level of cognitive function and a slower cognitive decline; sustained engagement in helping yielded cumulative cognitive benefits that became progressively greater over time. For both forms of helping, moderate levels of helping (approximately two to four hours/week) were consistently linked to robust cognitive benefits.

“Many older adults in suboptimal health often continue to make valuable contributions to those around them,” Han said in a statement. “And they also may be the ones to especially benefit from being provided with opportunities to help.”