安全“拥抱亭”让孤独老人在疫情期间重感家庭温暖

疫情让养老院的老人倍感孤独，因为家人只能隔着玻璃探望。美国德州的一家企业为养老院老人打造了一款别出心裁的“拥抱亭”，让老人可以和家人安全地拥抱。

Some Texans are trying to relieve the loneliness and isolation that many elderly Americans are feeling during the coronavirus pandemic by creating safe “hugging booths.”

一些德克萨斯人试图缓解许多美国老人在新冠疫情期间的孤独和隔离感，就发明了安全的“拥抱亭”。

Amber Crenshaw and her husband Steve Crenshaw own a business called Handle With Care and work with Unlimited Care Cottages, an assisted living facility. Amber said she and her husband designed and built the hugging booths after one of the nurses suggested the idea.

安柏·克伦肖和她的丈夫斯蒂夫·克伦肖开办了一家与“无限关怀小屋”养老院有合作的企业，名为“用心善待”。安柏说，在养老院的一名护士提出建议后，她和丈夫设计建造了这种拥抱亭。

"The residents have been, just so filled with joy,” Amber said. “It was one of our resident’s birthdays. We were able to set the booth up for their birthday, and family members were able to come in and give birthday hugs. It has really lifted the spirits of the assisted living residents.”

安柏说：“养老院居民乐开了花。那天是其中一位居民的生日。为了庆祝生日，我们建造了拥抱亭，家人得以前来拥抱寿星。拥抱亭让养老院居民们精神大振。”

Buck Buckholtz, the owner of Unlimited Care Cottages, where the hugging booths have been used, said that the families were also excited.

采用拥抱亭的“无限关怀小屋”养老院的老板巴克·巴克霍尔茨说，老人的家人们也很兴奋。

He said, "The families, there was a pretty quick response of, 'When can you bring it to this house? When can you bring it to this house? When are we going to have one?"

他说：“很快，他们的家人们就纷纷询问：‘你们什么时候可以在这个屋子安装拥抱亭？什么时候？我们何时能有一个拥抱亭？’”

Amber said that she and her husband designed it to fit into a standard door without gaps, and built it with materials that coronavirus cannot transmit through, allowing family members to hug each other safely.

安柏说，她和丈夫的设计使其能无间隙地嵌入标准的门中，使用的建筑材料令新冠病毒无法入侵，让家人们可以安全地拥抱彼此。

"Just the power of touch is so important because it’s been since March since these family members and the residents at the homes have been able to touch and hug," she said. "Through this, we’ve been able to create an opportunity for them to reach out and have a touch. It’s huge, it brings lots of joy."

“触摸的力量太强大了，因为自从三月以来这些养老院居民和他们的家人就没有触摸和拥抱过对方。通过拥抱亭，我们可以为他们创造一个伸手拥抱的机会。这个机会很棒，还带来了许多欢乐。”

The Crenshaws have just worked with Unlimited Care so far, but they said other assisted living facilities in Texas have contacted them with interest.

到目前为止克伦肖一家只和“无限关怀小屋”合作过，但他们表示德州的其他感兴趣的养老院也联系了他们。