We have heard a lot about the sense of touch recently on the radio. Touch ‘hunger’ has been proposed as a syndrome that people feel when they have been deprived of sufficient human touch.
For those in care, the functional touch to assist in every day activity is still experienced but other forms of touch are less likely as we have become ‘touch sensitive’ with physical distancing required of this Covid virus control.
The Relatives and Residents Association of which I was a former Trustee has eloquently highlighted horrendous painful stories of deterioration which have been heart breaking. As we know one risk cancels another. I have a brother currently in hospital with a Covid related illness and one family member can only visit him once a week for which we are grateful. For someone who is not very touch sensitive he reached out to give me a hug and kiss when I left him after our one-hour visit slot, something he has never done before. It showed how he needed to express himself differently under stressful circumstances.
Different types of touch meet different emotional needs. It is an experience of a relationship and can create a sense of inclusion and belonging and can help to meet people’s attachment needs through the day and reduce stress.
Going back to a care home situation , I wonder is it right to offer an older person to choose whether to take a risk to be close to their loved ones and allow them to take the risk of an earlier demise vs prolonging life without intimacy. Do we do too much of the latter? How are we adding life to years rather than just years to life? We must surely start answering this question as a society.
The threat of Insurance claims and other perverse incentives are frightening some care homes into taking reactive decisions. This is painful for relatives who hold the key to the emotional memories that link a person into the relationships that make them want to survive. Relatives are the advocate and monitor of care and support and if they cannot have sufficient access how can they undertake this role. We must decide what matters most to the individual people in care homes, the families who care at a distance and the staff who care for them on a daily basis.
So what can we learn? From the Touch experiment broadcasted recently on Radio 4 there are other forms of compensating behaviours that can perhaps help reduce ‘Touch Hunger. For example physical exercise is said to make up some of the deficit, visualisation of past embrace ( if you have the memory for this to be evoked in the minds- eye), or just making sure you get plenty of touch within your ‘bubble’ if you are fortunate enough to have one.