The
American Psychological Association’s Psychology and Ageing Journal may not be
the preferred bedtime reading for many people in North Lincolnshire. However,
this month it contains an article that we all ought to be aware of. According
to researchers at the Carnegie Mellon University (I know, but we won’t let the
name distract us), the process of volunteering is helpful in bringing about a
reduction in blood pressure. Now, when
was the last time you volunteered to do something for nothing? The employed
might retort that they work for nothing for the first five months of the year (Tax
Freedom Day being somewhere around the middle of May in the UK), but I am
assuming that doesn’t count, otherwise we wouldn’t have such a high demand for
blood pressure pills in this country.
High
blood pressure is a major risk factor in heart disease, strokes and kidney
disease, so it is worth taking seriously. The American research suggests that
positive lifestyle factors such as volunteering can have a major impact on
blood pressure through the chemical processes that bring about the ‘feel good
factor’. To benefit, a person has to perform voluntary work for at least 200
hours per year.
Of
course, one’s blood pressure isn’t the only thing to benefit from volunteering.
Volunteering also helps to build a caring society, reduces social exclusion,
makes an economic impact (adding £4.8 billion to the UK’s finances), opens up
social networks, brings interesting and exciting new experiences, improves
personal skills, enhances personal development, and improves employment and
career prospects. From a medical perspective, stress levels are also often
reduced, which may be part of the way in which volunteering reduces blood
pressure. So, all in all, it is a good thing to do.
Meanwhile,
in other areas of this week’s medical press, we learn that the Department of
Health has decided that there is no evidence to support the concept that GPs
are not capable of working in General Practice until their 68th
birthday. Ironically, the same report acknowledges that the same GPs may not be
motivated to work that long. Motivation is a multifaceted beast, but it has a
lot to do with job satisfaction, manageable workloads, and not feeling
exhausted before getting to lunchtime (in itself a vague concept these days).
Even more ironically, on the same day the above report was published, other
reports highlighted (as though it wasn’t already clear) that General Practice
is at breaking point and cannot be looked to in order to solve the country’s
A&E crisis.
Nonetheless,
that didn’t stop NHS England suggesting that GPs should provide 24/7 ‘decision
support’ (whatever that means) to tackle the out of hours problems. Neither did
a national lack of GPs stop the Care Quality Commission announcing that it
would close GP practices that didn’t stay open long enough to satisfy patient
demand. I may be losing the plot here, but will someone please explain to me
how that solves the problem? Even as I write, I can feel my blood pressure
rising. Perhaps a quick spot of voluntary work will help? Now, I wonder whether
emptying the dishwasher and putting the rubbish out, before Mrs J-F tells me to
do it, will count towards my 200 hours per year target?
First published in the Scunthorpe
Telegraph, 27 June 2013
© Copyright Robert M Jaggs-Fowler 2013
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