If you’re missing your friends and family, you’re not alone. “People are desperate to be connected with loved ones, because our mental health is dependent on love and connection with family,” says Dr. Genevieve Brauning, lead physician at Novant Health SouthPark Family Physicians in Charlotte, North Carolina. “Each of us is missing someone right now.”
That can be particularly tough for family caregivers, whether you’re caregiving from a distance or just a few blocks away. One sweet trend that may offer some relief: “hugging walls,” which are, most commonly, clear sheets of plastic (think shower liner-style) through which families and their older loved ones can hug one another.
Here’s more about this heartwarming trend — and what experts say about whether it’s safe for you and the seniors in your life.
What is a hugging wall?
A “hugging wall” can take on lots of different forms, but generally, it’s a large plastic sheet, or a tarp, that includes holes so that a person can hug their older loved one while keeping a protective, germ-limiting layer between them.
Where have hugging walls popped up?
At Westminster-Canterbury on Chespeake Bay, a retirement community in Virginia, two hugging walls were installed in November for residents and their families, AARP reports. They describe it as “less like a wall than a very revealing shower stall,” explaining the set up like this: “A plastic shower liner is attached with curtain rings to a pipe that hangs in a square from the ceiling. The resident goes inside the three-sided curtained space while their children or grandchildren or whomever they feel like hugging remains on the outside. They hug through the plastic, which is loose enough to allow for a full embrace. The curtain is later fully disinfected with an electrostatic sprayer.”
Residents like 82-year-old Betsy Via didn’t want to push the idea of using it but loved being able to hug her son and daughter-in-law, whom she hadn’t seen in months. “It’s simple, it’s cheap, but it has a dramatic impact. Everybody ought to be doing it,” the retirement community’s CEO Ben Unkle tells the publication.
In Palmer, Nebraska, 13- and 7-year-old brothers Brady and Max Myers created a hugging wall — with $10 worth of materials and in half an hour — to hug their grandparents, something they hadn’t done in close to a year, according to the Grand Island Independent. The pair used PVC pipe, a shower curtain and plastic breeder gloves to create their wall, which they then brought to their grandparents driveway to surprise them.
“This was truly about two boys hugging their grandparents, one of which has cancer and can’t afford to get sick over COVID,” their mom Jen tells the paper “My kids have the biggest hearts and all they want to do is to have some quality interactions with all of their family without the fear of endangering them. The boys just wanted to give them that opportunity to give a simple hug.”
And at BrightStar Senior Living, which has locations in Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio, hugging walls are now part of the “amenities” for residents and their loved ones to use, the Dayton Daily News reports.
Are hugging walls safe?
Brauning says the hugging walls are a wonderful idea. “At this point in the pandemic, it is clear that physical barriers, such as masks and goggles, reduce COVID transmission,” she says. “There are no studies looking at plastic sheeting and COVID transmission, but, from what we currently know about the virus, an adequate plastic sheet barrier should give excellent protection against COVID transmission.”
Also, importantly, it can help keep people’s spirits up.“The COVID pandemic is bringing with it a mental health crisis. Loneliness is a destructive emotion, especially for our seniors,” says Brauning. “Any way that we can safely connect families will help fuel us emotionally through upcoming months.”
What should you know if you plan on using or making a hugging wall?
Brauning offers a few tips to keep in mind should you or a family member try a hugging wall or even decide to make your own:
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Use durable plastic sheeting that won’t easily rip or tear.
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Ensure the sheet is large enough to “create a full-body barrier,” with an extra six feet on both sides, “to ensure that the virus is not sneaking around the edges or over the top of the barrier.”
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Make sure everyone washes their hands before using it.
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Wear a mask.
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Spray the sheet with an antimicrobial sanitizer and let it dry and air out for at least 15 minutes between uses.
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Put it in an outdoor location or, if it’s indoors, in a place where there’s adequate ventilation and air filtration.
What are other ways to connect?
If you don’t have access to a hugging wall or aren’t up for making one yourself, there are lots of other ways to bond with older loved ones, even while far apart.
“We should continue to embrace new ways of communicating with our seniors, such as virtual connection through phones and computers,” offers Brauning. “We might also consider reviving some ‘old-fashioned’ ways of communication that would feel familiar and meaningful to an older generation. I mean, who doesn’t love getting a hand-written note through snail mail.”
