TY  - JOUR
T1  - Sustaining Sociability and Keeping It Alive in Residential Long-Term Care for People With Dementia
A1  - Lambelet, Alexandre
A1  - Malbois, Fabienne
A1  - Tremblay, Benjamin
JA  - Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Soziale Arbeit / Revue suisse de travail social
Y1  - 2026
N1  - Online version before inclusion in volume 34
UR  - https://szsa.ch/2026_3/
M2  - doi: 10.33058/szsa.2026.3718
KW  - care
KW  - chit-chat
KW  - dementia
KW  - nursing homes
KW  - Simmel
KW  - sociability
KW  - social relationship
N2  - Nursing homes, especially those caring for people with dementia, are often
perceived as “cold” or “silent” places where conversation is rare and the main tasks of
professionals are to help residents with their daily activities. This article presents an
analysis of ethnographic data collected in a nursing home in French-speaking Switzer-
land and links it to Georg Simmel’s analyses of sociability. It focuses mainly – but not
exclusively – on scenes involving members of the sociocultural team and demonstrates
that the care provided by professionals to create and support exchanges between and
with residents is a valuable resource for community building, benefiting both residents
and professionals.
ER  -