Hug Tent Allows Vulnerable Human Contact in Covid-19 Pandemic

Lynda Hartman needed a hug.

It had been at least eight months since she touched her 77-year-old husband, Len, who has dementia and has been in an assisted living facility in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado, USA, for the last year.

On Wednesday, he had a small taste of what life was like before the coronavirus pandemic.

Something like.

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Thanks to a “cuddle tent” set up on the outskirts of Juniper Village in Louisville, Hartman was able to squeeze her husband of almost 55 years, albeit with plastic sleeves and separated by a 4-millimeter-thick transparent plastic barrier.

“I really needed it. I really needed it, “the 75-year-old said after her brief visit.” It meant a lot to me, and it’s been a long, long time. “

Hartman, who broke two vertebrae and could no longer care for her husband alone, said she thought he was a bit confused but that it was important that they hug again.

“We have been trying to do it for a long time,” he said. “It felt good. I kept hitting his glasses when I hugged him though. And he got cold.”

Although the setup was not ideal, Hartman said: “At least you can do something, and it is important.”

Since the pandemic broke out, similar stores have popped up across the country and in places like Brazil and England, where some people call them “hug curtains.”

The assisted living facility in Denver’s suburb of Louisville, which has fully vaccinated its residents and staff, partnered with nonprofit health care organization TRU Community Care to set up the tent with construction plastic in one day of stormy but warm winter this week.

“I think it takes a great weight off their shoulders to have that hug that they haven’t had in a long time,” said Anna Hostetter, a spokeswoman for Juniper Village in Louisville. “When we were planning this and setting it up, and I saw pictures, I wasn’t sure if with all the plastic and everything you could really get that human contact. But I cried with some of them. It was really special for our families. “

The hug tent will go up again on Tuesday and the staff plans to continue hosting them.

For Gregg MacDonald, holding hands with his 84-year-old mother, Chloe MacDonald, was important because they hadn’t touched since April. He likes getting updates on his grandson and granddaughter.

“Time is precious, so while we all hope to get back to normal, in the meantime, everyone is doing what they can,” said Gregg MacDonald. “So I appreciate the efforts they are making to allow us to have more contact with everyone.”

Amanda Meier, project coordinator for TRU Community Care, said she, her husband, and some volunteers built the hug tent around a standard 8-by-8-foot pop-up frame and attached the construction-grade plastic with glue and velcro. The plastic arm sleeves built into the tent are attached with embroidery hoops.

Since early November, she has helped set up four cuddle tents in Colorado and said the feedback has been positive.

“A lot of tears, but kind of happy tears, and a lot of shocked expressions of how the hell we can be doing something like this. It’s so weird,” Meier said.

But after the initial rarity, the benefits are clear, he said.

“You can see a kind of relief on their bodies and their faces when they finally get that physical contact, which is really a basic human need. And in these facilities, many times they miss it anyway because they just aren’t with their families, “Meier said.” I don’t think it’s measurable, actually. You know it when you see it and you feel it when you are there. “