I hadn’t expected a group of women in their 70s in a library to be so boisterous. Nora has recited a ribald verse about a well-known current politician, with bright-eyed relish, while Jill offers wry self-mockery at her continuing failure to finish War and Peace. Barbara is happy to share her passion for reading with kindred spirits. “You lose yourself in a book,” she says, explaining how literature has helped her through hard times in old age.

We are sitting in a bright space at Mayflower Court residential care home in Southampton, where one long wall of the modern building is covered in bookshelves containing a diverse selection of titles. They are catering for a clientele who clearly enjoy contemporary biographies and thoughtful non-fiction as well as novels – historical yarns being a particular favourite. The well-read women also draw me into a lively discussion of subjects ranging from ancient history to contemporary sexual politics, alongside literature.

Almost 90% reported uplifted mood, better concentration and better long- and short-term memory

A growing number of care homes are discovering that libraries and reading groups can transform the lives of their residents, including those with dementia. Residents at Mayflower Court can join the reading group which meets every Tuesday morning in the library.

Former librarian and resident, Pat Marton, runs the reading group. “Reading is a fantastic way to encourage the group to keep mentally active and engaged,” she says.

It is a view shared by Nicola Toomer, a manager at the home. “The library is a fantastic communal area, which is well used. Reading encourages residents to use their imagination and also provides a point of discussion – something retirees can feel they have lost,” she says.

Anchor Housing, which runs Mayflower Court, and is England’s largest not-for-profit provider of housing and care for older people, has been promoting reading groups for its residents for more than a decade.

Research published by the centre for research into reading, literature and society (Crils) at the University of Liverpool has found that while any reading helps sharpen the minds of older people, shared reading in groups offers particular benefits. Almost 90% of participants reported uplifted mood, better concentration and better long- and short-term memory.

Other benefits include reduced levels of agitation, while older people’s sense of connectedness to a wider community was also improved by taking part in reading groups. Participants said they gain insights into their own identity, as well as the world view of others. “Isn’t it funny? We come in with nothing and go out with all these thoughts,” says one reading-group member living with dementia, who took part in the research.According to further studies commissioned by NHS North West, poetry seems particularly beneficial. Its 2014 report, Read to Care, focused on poetry for reading groups – particularly for people living with dementia. It found that poetry engaged emotions and triggered memory, while the compressed and intense language offered an immediacy and impact different to prose. As part of the reseach, participants – even with those with severe dementia – were prompted to recall poetry learned by heart at school.

Philip Davis, professor of literature at Liverpool University is director of Crils and a director of the award-winning Liverpool-based charity, The Reader, which aims to connect people through shared reading and to establish it as a non-medical intervention for people with a diagnosis of dementia. He sees the active nature of shared reading in groups as different to reminiscence therapy, which takes older people back in their minds using objects from the past.

“It is a more dynamic awakening – the thoughts seem fresh,” he says. “People find them coming to mind in relation to new things they have never read before.”

It isn’t just the elderly readers who benefit. The Reader has found care home staff reporting that residents require less medication after reading groups because they are happier and more relaxed. Reading groups also give staff a way to get to know residents better, gaining insights into their lives and interests.

Others gain too. Families are brought closer together through the common denominator of literature, even where dementia has previously created a gulf. Relatives report lear ning new things about their family member or friend through talking about what they have read.

And children’s books are provided in many care home libraries as a way to build – or rebuild - a bond across the generations. The residents at Mayflower Court confirm that they take one of the children’s titles from the shelves to read to their grandchildren when they visit.

The Reader has published a number of anthologies of prose and poetry for reading aloud to someone you care for. On the publication of its first anthology, called A Little, Aloud, staff member Katie Clark recounted a visit to a home where she was warned not to approach one aggressive resident. Clark, however, sat down and read her a poem. She recalls: “She relaxed back in her chair, went very quiet, and at the end said, straight away, ‘read another’.”