Memory benefit for elderly recycling station volunteers

Objective: The AD-8 scale provides informant-based assessment in 4 cognitive domains which includes memory, judgment, temporal and function. This test is specifically designed to efficiently capture individuals at their very mild dementia and is sensitive to the earliest signs of cognitive change as reported by an informant. Although several protective factors for cognitive decline have been identified, much less is known about volunteering whether be able to delay or reverse declining brain function. Methods: The AD-8 scale was measured in a local community-living older adults of Taiwan (N=484; older than 65 years; 134 recycling station volunteers and 350 non-volunteers) and all participants were classified by 5 years age range into 5 groups (G1: 66-70 years; G2:71-75 years; G3:76-80 years; G4:81-85 years; G5:86-90 years). One-way ANOVA was used to assess the effect of volunteering on cognitive function. Results: Compared with non-volunteers group, recycling station volunteers group significantly improved in memory (F = 2.74, p < .05). Our results suggest that volunteering may make people to delay or reverse declining memory performance.