title: Benefits, motivations, and barriers related to environmental volunteerism for older adults: developing a research agenda.
abstract: Interest in civic engagement focused on the natural environment has grown dramatically, as has the population of older adults. Our article explores the potential for increased environmental volunteerism among older adults to enrich the lives of volunteers while benefitting the community and environmental quality. Curiously, this convergence has been relatively neglected by researchers and program developers. We review existing literatures on trends in volunteerism, motivations, benefits, and barriers to participation, with a special focus on elements most relevant to older adults. Based on this review, we identify a number of critical areas of research, and pose key research questions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Horticulture, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA. bushway@cornell.edu
authors.forename: Lori J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Bushway
authors.forename: Janis L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Dickinson
authors.forename: Richard C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Stedman
authors.forename: Linda P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Wagenet
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Weinstein
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology; D003256:Community Participation / Q000523:psychology; D004777:Environment; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D012106:Research / Q000639:trends*; D012941:Social Responsibility; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014838:Volunteers / Q000523:psychology*