Combining exercise and volunteering could help tackle mental health crisis: Study

Combining exercise with volunteering could offer a “powerful” solution to the growing mental health crisis, researchers said this week.

Academics studied 2,800 volunteers at the UK charity GoodGym, whose members walk, run or cycle to help isolated older people and assist with community projects.

Regular participation was linked to a significant reduction in poor mental health compared to a control group, researchers found. Volunteers also reported improved feelings of trust, connectedness and belonging.

Mental ill health costs the UK alone an estimated £120 billion annually through sick leave and productivity losses. Academics believe their findings provide policymakers with a cost-effective means of relieving pressure on stretched health services.

Doctors in some UK regions already prescribe activities, such as walking in the woods, to improve patient health.

“Sports and volunteering can be powerful tools in addressing the growing mental health crisis documented in recent years and, in the context of increasingly stretched health resources, highly cost-effective,” said Dr Maria Cotofan, senior lecturer in economics and policy at King’s College London, which led the research.