‘Hug tent’ allows families to embrace despite virus
LOUISVILLE, Colo. — 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 at an assisted living center in suburban Denver for the last year.
On Wednesday, she got a small taste of what life was like before the coronavirus pandemic, sort of.
Thanks to a “hug tent” set up outside Juniper Village at Louisville, Hartman got to squeeze her husband of nearly 55 years — albeit while wearing plastic sleeves and separated by 4 mil plastic sheeting, which is 4-thousandths of an inch thick.
“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.”
Since the pandemic hit, similar tents have popped up around the country and in places such as Brazil and England, where some people call them “cuddle curtains.”
The assisted living facility worked with a nonprofit health care organization to set up the tent on a blustery but warm winter day last week.
For Gregg MacDonald, holding hands with his 84-year-old mother, Chloe MacDonald, was important because they hadn’t touched since April. She likes to keep up on the grandchildren, her son said.
“I appreciate any efforts that they are making to allow us to have more contact with everybody,” Gregg MacDonald said.