Religion key to elderly mental health

Wednesday August 5th, 2015

Churches are one of the greatest sources of mental well-being for elderly Europeans, researchers have reported.

The Dutch and British researchers said their findings were "surprising."

They found that membership of a religious organisation had a strong impact on improving mental health than undertaking charity work, following sport or taking an educational course.

Membership of political and community organisations provided short-term benefits - but could aggravate long-term depression. And there was no evidence that volunteering improved mental health.

The research involved some 9,000 people over the age of 50 studied for a four year period.

The study, reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology, highlighted some differences in culture across Europe. It was undertaken by the London School of Economics and Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

It found that southern Europeans tend to stick to family networks for their social life - and fewer than 10% undertook voluntary work.

Researcher Dr Mauricio Avendano said: “The church appears to play a very important social role in keeping depression at bay and also as a coping mechanism during periods of illness in later life.

"It is not clear to us how much this is about religion per se, or whether it may be about the sense of belonging and not being socially isolated."

Social participation and depression in old age. American Journal of Epidemiology 29 May 2015 [abstract]

Tags: Elderly Health | Europe | Mental Health

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