Neighbourhood Natter: A Post-Pandemic Response to Addressing Social Isolation and Connection in a Retirement Village

Living in retirement communities is often promoted as a solution to problems of loneliness and social isolation which are risk factors for both mortality and poor physical and mental health. However, even there, friendships do not automatically form between neighbours, and it can be difficult for newcomers and those on the margins to engage with existing clubs and groups. In this context, from autumn 2021 to spring 2023, we carried out two studies in a retirement village in Surrey UK to co-design a novel social media system to help address issues of social connection for residents. In this paper we report the requirements, design and evaluation of the resulting system called Neighbourhood Natter. This was unusual in not supporting online communication, but rather the facilitation of face-to-face conversations between small groups of neighbours in a community social space. Residents embraced the system and fell into having meaningful conversations with acquaintances or strangers relatively quickly. These led to a significant reduction in reported loneliness levels, positive mood shifts and private plans to meet with conversational partners again.