| For Immediate Release: July 24, 2006 |
For more information, contact: Sarah Priestman, 202-478-6159 spriestman@experiencecorps.org |
Experience Corps Recognized for
Impact on Volunteer Wellness
Johns Hopkins research finds significant health benefits for Experience
Corps members; Bay Area program receives $150,000 wellness grant
WASHINGTON, July 24, 2006 – People over 55 generally join Experience Corps because they want to produce measurable results for students struggling to learn to read. But recent findings by Johns Hopkins University researchers may convince some that the measurable benefits to their own health are just as compelling.
In a recent article published in the Journal of Urban Health, Hopkins researchers report a near-doubling in the physical activity levels of inactive adults who enrolled in Experience Corps.
A team of Hopkins researchers led by Dr. Erwin J. Tan analyzed data over an eight-month long period in the 1999-2000 school year. At baseline, there was no significant difference in physical activity levels between the Experience Corps members (59 people) and the control group (54 people).
Four to eight months later, Experience Corps members reported an increase in the minutes expended per week in physical activities, from 220 to 270, while the controls decreased from 170 to 140.
Among those who had low activity at baseline, Experience Corps members reported a doubling of time spent in physical activity per week (using 880 kilocalories instead of 420), compared to no change among controls.
In contrast, among those who were physically active at baseline, both Experience Corps members and controls reported a decrease in their usual activity at follow-up. But Experience Corps members showed less decline overall, with a 38% decrease in kilocalories per week compared to the control group's 70% decrease.
The study found that a program like Experience Corps "can lead, in the short-term, to significant improvements in the level of physical activity of previously inactive older adult volunteers."
"Experience Corps members actually have more energy for their daily activities," Dr. Tan said. "On top of which, these schools are so eager to get the help."
The positive impact on the health of Experience Corps members is not lost on the California Wellness Foundation. The Foundation recently awarded a $150,000 grant to Experience Corps in the San Francisco Bay Area to support continuing efforts "to improve the health of seniors in Alameda and San Francisco counties."
The California Wellness Foundation seeks "to improve the health of the people of California by making grants for health promotion, wellness education and disease prevention.
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Experience Corps, a national service program for Americans over 55, works to show that older adults are an untapped national resource and can be engaged to help solve serious social problems, including illiteracy. Today more than 1,800 Experience Corps members serve as tutors and mentors to children in urban public schools and after-school programs, where they help teach children to read and develop the confidence and skills to succeed in school and in life. Research shows that Experience Corps boosts student academic performance, helps schools and youth-serving organizations become more successful, strengthens ties between these institutions and surrounding neighborhoods, and enhances the well-being of the volunteers in the process. Experience Corps is a signature program of Civic Ventures.
