It's nothing new that certain behaviors can have a relaxing effect on our psyche, relieving us of stress and having positive impacts on both ourselves and others. Kindness is the focus of the Baltimore Experience Corps, a study conducted by a group of researchers coordinated by Tara Gruenewald, a social psychologist and associate professor at Chapman University, in California. The research, published in the National Library of Medicine, highlighted how people over 60 can develop an overall improvement in brain health after several years of volunteer work. In particular, the improvement would have to do with the cognitive functions of the brain as a result of the greater physical activity that volunteering requires.
In addition to the elderly included in the Chapman University study, other research published in the National Library of Medicine has focused on young people and the impact that repeated acts of kindness generate on their health. Although the volunteerism practiced by young and old is different, even in young people who have carried out activities perhaps with school children, an improvement in the state of cardiovascular health has been observed after a tendency to be more altruistic, kind and empathetic. Perhaps in a society increasingly characterized by division and conflict, an improvement in our health can be an incentive to be more kind.
Regarding the elderly, volunteering or in general acts of altruism also help physical health, since volunteering also involves the expenditure of physical energy: an activity that helps to keep the elderly active, as well as prevent the risks of dementia.
