Before confinement and interpersonal distance arrived, up to 64% of those surveyed by NIVEA in an international study acknowledged not enjoying as much physical contact with other people as they would like and, in fact, one in five had not felt the contact with others during the day before being asked, for reasons such as overwork, a stressful lifestyle or abuse of technology-mediated communication, among others. These data are findings from more than 12,000 surveys conducted by NIVEA in 12 countries (Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States) between October 2018 and March 2018. 2019, to analyze the “Situation of physical contact between people”.
To the extent that loneliness is one of the reasons for lack of physical contact with other people, NIVEA’s international research examined, through the application of factorial and regression analyzes, more than 200 factors that could potentially contribute to this. situation and, therefore, its consequences on people’s emotional and physical health.
COVID-19 and prevention measures such as masks or the so-called social distancing arrived, and NIVEA has reissued the study and has included surveys in Spain (in January 2021 and a representative sample of almost 500 people). It can be inferred from them that more than 80% of Spaniards have reduced their physical contact with other people as a result of the pandemic and that almost half (48%) declare that they feel lonely, compared to 46% of those interviewed throughout the country. world. Among those who, in Spain, report feeling loneliness frequently during this exceptional situation, 88% affirm that they would like to receive more hugs. Furthermore, 65% of those who live alone and of single-parent families do not have physical contact with other people on a daily basis.
This second study shows that respondents from all countries have accepted the barriers to physical closeness imposed by the current situation and are leaving their needs for human contact unattended. However, three out of four Spaniards (77%) declare their desire to compensate for the current lack of physical contact once the health crisis is resolved (this is the highest percentage of all the countries studied, along with others with great sociability like Brazil and Italy).
Although technology is helping to create and maintain close bonds in situations of social distancing, however, more than half of the people surveyed prefer physical contact with others to overcome the feeling of loneliness.
One of the main lessons learned from international research indicates that it is young people (between 18 and 34) who feel lonely on a regular basis, in a proportion that reaches 41%. Among those over 55, only 19% say they feel lonely frequently.
This is a worrying circumstance, as there is growing evidence pointing to the important role of close contact between people for good physical and emotional health. In fact, the NIVEA survey indicates that three out of four respondents admit to having become aware of this need during the pandemic.
We know that simple physical contact with others relieves pain and improves the functioning of the cardiovascular system, calms anxiety and even improves symptoms of depression. But, in addition, the NIVEA study has delved into the role of oxytocin in our health. We knew their ability to create and strengthen ties and relationships with our peers, to maintain the feeling of attachment and even to reduce stress. The so-called “happiness hormone” is key in the connection between the skin and the brain: keratinocytes (cells of the epidermis) have receptors that activate oxytocin through touch and, in response to this stimulus, our general well-being improves and, therefore, also that of the skin.
But, in addition, scientific studies carried out by the brand show that this powerful neurotransmitter is also capable of reducing skin inflammation, calming sensitive skin and even delaying skin aging.
The NIVEA # CareForHumanTouch Initiative
Based on these revelations, skincare brand NIVEA has launched its brand purpose initiative called “Care for human touch to inspire togetherness”. In that sense, is committed to drawing attention to the proven health benefits of physical contact and to promoting skin-to-skin contact as soon as sanitary circumstances permit. The company promises to invest € 20 million in local projects related to human contact throughout the world, reaching 150,000 people, including prematurely born babies, people with vision problems and the elderly with dementia.
The importance of the findings of the research carried out by AdCouncil in collaboration with NIVEA, reflected in its report ” Loneliness, isolation and human contact ” resides mainly in its approach, since until its publication, studies of this type focused on understanding and mitigate the effects of loneliness in older people. The NIVEA initiative shows that many people are at risk of suffering health complications caused by the lack of this type of contact with other people.
According to the research, “loneliness can affect anyone at any time, but now there is another perspective from which this problem has to be examined: the global pandemic of COVID-19, social distancing and isolation measures”, Therefore, he concludes, “this is an important time to start implementing interventions for those at risk of feeling lonely on a regular basis. The findings of this study provide a fundamental opportunity for researchers, health professionals, agencies, companies and non-profit organizations, by understanding who is vulnerable, who has high risk factors, and / or who has a demographic profile that could lead to one of these categories of loneliness ”.
