'Volunteering is medicine.'

By Staff

January 4^th, 2025

BURLINGTON, ON

“Volunteering is medicine.”

“We all strive for a purpose in life said Dr. Iris Gorfinkel who added “ but for many people, they struggle with zero purpose. That need to feel needed … promotes physical exercise, social connections and a sense of gratitude.”

When Dr. Gorfunkel sees her patients, there’s always chatter about how work is going, how the kids are growing and even how their pets are doing — some of which she knows by name.

Gorfinkel, a Toronto-based family physician believes in providing personalized care, often suggesting volunteering to those who’d benefit from more social connections, even jotting it down on her prescription pad.

Benefits also extend to the broader community, says Kate Mulligan, an assistant professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.

She’s the founder and scientific director of the Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing, which promotes referring people to non-clinical supports and community resources, such as volunteering. Mulligan says people who become volunteers through social prescribing report the greatest health benefits.

In part, she says, people who give to others experience the so-called giver’s glow. And for those who are unwell, shifting from seeing themselves as having needs to feeling they have something to contribute creates “a big paradigm shift.”