How to improve sociability in care homes

Moving to a care home is a big change in someone’s life. Being away from the home they know, the family they love and the routine they have come to rely on can make some people feel very lonely. 

That’s why it’s so important that all care homes make efforts to support, encourage and facilitate sociability at their premises. Fostering social interaction should be a priority right from the initial design phase of a home, all the way to everyday living schedules. 

In this article, we’ll take you through the main ways that sociability can be improved in care homes for happier and healthier residents. 

Why is sociability important?

No matter what age we are, every human being needs social bonds. Establishing a vibrant social life in your care home can help alleviate feelings of loneliness and ensure that nobody is isolated from the other residents. This in turn will improve mental and emotional well-being. 

A healthier mind is also known to support a healthier body, especially when social activities involve physical movement or motor skills, such as a walk in the garden or a craft session.

How to improve sociability in care homes

Now we understand why sociability is important, let’s take a look at some of the things you can do to support it at your facility. 

• Create a welcoming and inclusive environment: Ensuring that you build friendly and accessible spaces right from the beginning is important. Communal areas with wheelchair access and handrails, complete with plenty of comfortable seating, will make sure that social spaces are inviting and suitably set up for activities that will foster connection. Consult with your chosen building surveyor or project manager for advice on the best size, layout and location of these communal or social areas. 

• Organise social activities: Arranging a regular calendar of social activities will give residents something to look forward to and a chance to socialise. You should organise a variety of events that will appeal to different sorts of people too, ranging from laidback movie or quiz nights, all the way to choirs, crafts or gardening groups for those who want to hone a skill. 

• Encourage interaction between residents: Outside of social activities, there are other ways to encourage interaction between individuals. Helping to establish friendships through small group sessions, making sure that everyone taking part in an activity has someone to talk to, and even providing buddy systems or peer support can help encourage interaction too. 

• Involve family and external community: You can also expand the social community by getting family members involved where possible, such as at birthdays or during Christmas celebrations. Research hobby or community groups in the local area and see if any collaborations can be formed for fun special activities. 

• Train and support care home staff: Reducing loneliness hugely depends on developing a people-focused culture. This mainly comes down to how you train staff, so consider putting them through social engagement training and asking them to feed back on ideas of how to improve the sociability of the facility. 

In conclusion, every element of building design and premises operation can be used to support social communication between residents. You can also ask the residents and their families what might help them feel more included too. Through putting in the right effort at every stage, eventually you will have a facility that bolsters mental, emotional and physical health through sociability. 

Ensure your care facility is tailored to the needs of your residents. Here at Aedifice, we are client-centred building surveyors and project managers, ensuring that every element of your premises is focused on your goals and aspirations. Established in 2000, we’re now highly experienced in working on healthcare and residential facilities, so get in touch to discover more.