AUTHOR Ozawa , Martha N . ; Morrow - Howell , Nancy TITLE Elderly Volunteers and the Time They Contribute : An

Meeting the social service needs of the elderly is a majtor Challenge to the people of the United States. To meet this challenge, many communities across the nation are developing programs to foster social support Systems involving elderly volunteers. This research project focuses on such a program, called the System to Assure Elderly Services (STAES), which is located in St Louis City. The program mobilizes and trains elderly persons to become volunteers who serve other elderly persons. The objectives of this study are twofold: (1) to investigate characteristics that distinguish the elderly volunteers from the elderly they serve; and (2) to investigate the characteristics of the elderly volunteers who spend more time providing services than others do. Human capital theory is applied in deireloping the hypotheses. In general, we hypothesize that the elderly who have high leVels of physical functioning, psychological adjustment, perceived health, and social resources are more likely to (1) become trained volUnteers and (2) deVote MOre time in serving other elderly persons than do the elderly volunteers who have a low level of such human capital. Findings from this study indicate thEt three of the foue hUman capital variables--physical functioning, psychological adjustment, and social resources==are statistically related tt the eldetly't be-doming Volunteers. Findings also indicate that the fourth human capital variableperceived health--is a significant predictor of the amount of time slderly volunteers spend in providing services. Techniques of both logistic regression and ordinary least square regression estimation are used for data