‘It just lifted me’: loneliness and the astounding effects of reading groups

In shared reading, small groups of people read aloud short stories and poetry under the guidance of a trained facilitator, who gently steers the conversation to encourage deeper conversations about life, emotions, and personal experience.

Although participants differed in age, social background, mental and physical health and cultural identity, the most salient feature was that they came to feel a deep sense of social connection and improved wellbeing.

In fact, almost all of the surveyed participants said the group had made them feel better, while the majority found it helped them relate to others in a deeper way.

Take 94-year-old “Elaine”, who joined a shared reading group shortly after moving into aged care. When she joined, she was feeling “miserable” and “crook on everybody”, but she found the group rejuvenating: “it just lifted me and I couldn’t wait till the next week […] It brought me out of myself.”