The exploratory study is about enriching telecommunications for people in residential care and their families. Various products with various types of stimuli were tested to investigate whether they could help stay in touch in times when people were not allowed to physically touch their loved ones due to Covid-19.
The pandemic has caused adverse social restrictions in the lives of many. People living in residential care facilities are significantly affected. They are more dependent on others to fulfill their need for social interaction. During the lockdown in inpatient care facilities, the elderly, people with physical or cognitive disabilities and their families have benefited from the availability of telecommunication tools. However, video calling has so far not been able to match the warmth of interpersonal contact. This study therefore aimed to explore whether the integration of haptic stimulus materials into video calling could enrich the experiences for people with dementia or PIMD (severe multiple disabilities).
The findings show that adding haptics to video calling to adopt a multimodal approach can have a beneficial effect in times of social isolation. In particular, products that displayed natural stimuli and designs proved to be valuable during touchpoints. The added value was especially noticeable in providing comfort. It contributed to improved focus and engagement during remote social interaction.