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Australian charity Ending Loneliness Together reports that a national survey in 2023 found that one in three Australians feel lonely, and one in six experience severe loneliness. With the ageing of the population, atomisation of society and weakening of family bonds, the proportion of lonely people is only set to increase.

La Trobe University lecturers Juliane Roemhild and Sara James wrote in The Conversation that “shared reading” groups ease loneliness by providing opportunities for “meaningful social connections”. They explain:

“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.

“Not quite a book club or a self-help group, shared reading unites the best of both. It can take place in a variety of settings: libraries, community houses, care homes, prisons, hospitals and schools. The aim is to reconnect people with themselves and others, thereby nurturing wellbeing and social inclusion.”

In 2022 and 2023, the lecturers established ten shared reading groups in Melbourne and Bendigo, aiming to alleviate Victorians’ feelings of isolation following pandemic lockdowns.

In conjunction with libraries, a neighbourhood house, a hospital, an aged-care home and the Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council, they provided texts that had the “potential to evoke strong feelings and describe broadly relatable human experiences”. Participants “differed in age, social background, mental and physical health and cultural identity”.

Astounding Results

Not only did participants report feeling far better than before and able to “relate to others in a deeper way”, there were even physical benefits:

“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.’”

The positive effects were not only social. “When I came here I wasn’t walking, I was in a wheelchair,” Elaine reported. “I had a boost in my walking It was a struggle to get here. But I could run back.”’

Roemhild and James observe:

“The effects are nothing short of astounding. Research into shared reading has shown its capacity to combat loneliness, alleviate depression, lower anxiety and even help with chronic pain.”

Indeed, the Victorian Department of Health notes that strong social connections “strengthen your immune system, help you recover from disease, and may even lengthen your life”, while loneliness may result in “disrupted sleep patterns, elevated blood pressure, and increased cortisol. It can affect your immune system and decrease your overall sense of contentment. Loneliness is also a risk factor for antisocial behaviour, depression and suicide.”

Natural Remedy

Just as intergenerational contact has been observed to improve the health and wellbeing of the elderly, so does the meaningful interaction facilitated by a shared reading group. No man is an island, as John Donne declared; humans are made for connection and flourish in healthy, supportive relationships with one another.

Across Great Britain, the Reader Organisation runs over 700 shared reading groups and has received funding from the National Health Service (NHS). Its website explains:

“A group of people, one of them a trained Reader Leader, reads a great novel, short story or poem aloud. We stop and talk about what we have read. There is no need for group members to read aloud or speak – it’s fine to just listen. The idea is to create a space where people feel at ease.

“Reading the literature aloud in real-time, means that everyone is involved in a shared, live experience. Group members are encouraged by the Reader Leader to respond personally, sharing feelings, thoughts and memories provoked by the reading.

“Everyone experiences the text in their own way, but the literature provides a shared language that can help us to understand ourselves – and others – better… Shared Reading helps us to understand our individual and collective inner lives, round the same table, at the same time.”

UNSW Sydney has spruiked “nature prescriptions”, reasoning:

“Research shows that contact with nature reduces harms, including those from poor air quality, heatwaves, and chronic stress, while encouraging healthy behaviours such as socialising and physical activity. This can help to prevent issues including loneliness, depression, and cardiovascular disease.”

Perhaps doctors could also consider prescribing shared reading – another natural human activity, far better than just having patients dependent on pharmaceutical cocktails to manage their mental health!

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Republished with thanks to News Weekly. Image courtesy of Adobe.