Touch - LPNI
Main menu:
- Demon Possession or Demonization
- Advent – Coming, Arrival, Visit
- Malaria in Papua New Guinea
- Created in God’s image
- Arthritis
- Perfectionism and Forgiveness
- Bronchiectasis Update
- Periodontal Disease
- Helping Children Cope in a Fallen World
- The Season of Our Soul
- Heartache – Is it real?
- “Non-Cardiac” Chest Pain
- Respiratory Syncytial Virus
- Stages of Congestive Heart Failure
- The Effects of Prayer Camps and Spiritual Healing Homes on Maternal and Fetal Mortality in Ghana
- The Heart of the Matter
- Healthy Eyes, Clear Vision
- Handwashing: Universal Disease Prevention
- Why Water?
- The Need for Caring for Care Givers
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Broken Heart Syndrome
- Loving the “Hot Reactor”
- Dealing with Continued COVID Restrictions
- Charles Bonnet Syndrome
- Caring for the Survivors
- Aging: not an Illness to Cure, but a Gift to Celebrate
- Dealing with pain
- Carrot, egg, or coffee bean?
- The God-given Gifts We Often Take for Granted
- Benefits of Stretching
- Celiac Disease
- Habits Can Help or Hurt Your Immunity
- Gardening is good for you
- Touch
- Facing Fears as Christians
- Seasonal Influenza Vaccine and Handwashing
- A Healthy Laugh
- Health Ramifications of Loneliness and Isolation
- Hearing Loss
- COVID-19: Challenges and blessings
- Stroke
- E-Cigarettes
- Mental Health
- Organ Donation
- Nutrition Awareness
- Suicide: A Preventable Global Health Crisis
- Retirement – Stressful or Stress Free
- Spiritual Care
- Counseling Parents in Pregnancy Loss
- Mental Health Awareness
- Cataracts
- The Nurture of Nature
- Sharing our gifts
- Going to the Hospital: Tips for Dementia Caregivers
- Huntington’s Disease
- Caregiver Burnout
- Measles: A Preventable Crisis
- Nutrition and Older Adults
- Do I have a Cold…or the Flu?
- Alzheimer’s - a personal perspective
- PTSD
- Falls
- Sit less and feel better
- Immunization: Worldwide Protection
- Sleep
- Basics of Wound Healing
- Aged care and palliative care
- Friendship -The Key to Good Health
- Leprosy
- Heart Health
- Music therapy
- No Births Here
- Blood Pressure
- Osteoporosis
- Worry
- Talking with your doctor
- Walk Your Way to Health
- Connectedness in terms of spirituality
- Sleep, Living Lives in Balance
- Tuberculosis
- Self-Care
- Hazards at church
- Blue Christmas
- A Cheerful Heart
- Thyroid Cancer
- A Healthy Mind in a Healthy Body
- A Healthy Mind in a Healthy Body - Finnish
- Heart Failure
- The Common Headache
- Too Hot? Find Some Shade!
- Hospice Care
- Men … and Doctors
- Dry Bones
- Intergenerational Care
- FAITH for Seniors
- Your brain and memory
- Skin Cancer
- Healthy Eyes
- Hand Washing
- E-Cigarette
- Pneumonia
- The Process of Dying
- Energy Drinks
- Ebola
Touch
LPNI Health Topic
Touch
Of all of the things that I miss most during the restrictions of the 2020-21 COVID-19 pandemic is touch. I knew I was a “touchy, feely, huggy” person, but I didn’t realize just how much. Many of you reading this already know I am a touchy, feely, huggy person; however, most of you touch and hug back! During this time, I have had several “illegal hugs”, but we couldn’t help it. We did have our masks on and did turn our heads away. We didn’t want our masks to somehow get entangled. This event reminded me of “back in the day” when adolescents, both with braces on their teeth, kissed and got their “wires crossed”. Intimate contact does have its hazards!
How can we safely touch and make up for the absence of close physical contact? I have several friends who as former huggers are now fist bumpers, elbow bumpers or wide-open-arm air huggers. I do that, but it sure isn’t the same!
What are some alternatives to touching? I find that smiling and concurrently nodding have become a new hug, of sorts. In the US, nodding is a sign of recognition and affirmation. Even with masks on, smiling is evident in the eyes. Almost always for photos, we all tend to smile and continue to do so even wearing masks, and the smile is somewhat evident in the photo. While nodding is a sign of agreement, acknowledgement and affirmation, it can also be a sign of sleepiness; but wakeful nodding is affirming.
Contact through cards and letters in the postal mail, and by email, telephoning, and texting are alternative ways to reach out, touch and hug. Using various emojis and stickers helps to get the message across, too. Gifts of food and special hygiene product preferences are additional ways to “touch”. Giving someone a gift of a preferred scent of soap or sanitizer is another way of touching and affirming someone. One special thing that I have been able to do is to make masks with hand-picked printed fabrics for some of our homebound. They have enjoyed being a part of the mask-generation, when they have to go out for appointments and treatments. Be creative, think outside the box, try new and different ways of touching, affirming and keeping in contact with those you care about and with those who may not have many or any in their immediate vicinity to touch and affirm them. My notecard, postage stamp, mailing supplies, soap, sanitizer, fabric and cookie expenses have gone up, but so has the dial on my “touch-o-meter” and, as I have been told, it also has been so for the others. As soon as the pandemic and its restrictions of social distancing and very limited touch have passed, I plan to make up for lost time, and know that some of my “touchees and huggees” are looking forward to that day, too!
Jamie Spikes, PhD, RN
Parish Nurse, St. Luke’s Lutheran Church
Manhattan, KS USA
jamiespikes@gmail.com