Temporary Housing for Older People: Addressing Housing Insecurity to Promote Aging in the Right Place

The Aging in the Right Place (AIRP) project is a multi-year, multi-city partnership grant on aging, housing insecurity and homelessness. This paper presents findings from provider/staff interviews (N=5) at a Temporary Housing Program (THP) serving older people experiencing (or at risk of) homelessness (OPEH) in Vancouver, Canada. The researchers sought to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the program, scale-up (i.e., policies) and/or scale out impacts (i.e., on people and communities), as well as how the program promotes housing security and stability for OPEH. Narrative data reveals the program provided housing stability to OPEH by offering increased access to resources (food, pharmaceutical, transportation, social support and engagement). Additionally, through the promotion of client autonomy, privacy and security in their housing unit, the organization and staff work to support and foster AIRP among their clients and help to transform a temporary housing space into a secure home-type setting.

Five-Year Psychosocial Impact of Living in Postdisaster Prefabricated Temporary Housing

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the long-term impact of living in postdisaster prefabricated temporary housing on social interaction activities and mental health status. Methods: A total of 917 adult residents in a coastal town, whose residences were destroyed by the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE), were enrolled for the assessment held 5 y after the disaster. They answered questions about their experience and consequence of living in prefabricated temporary housing after the disaster. Their present scores on 5 types of self-reported measures regarding the psychosocial or psychiatric status and their present and recalled social interaction activities were cross-sectionally collected. Results: A total of 587 (64.0%) participants had a history of living in prefabricated temporary housing, while the other 330 (36.0%) had not. The prevalence of social interaction activities significantly decreased after the GEJE. However, the experience of living in prefabricated temporary housing did not adversely affect the subsequent social interaction activities or mental conditions of the participants 5 y after the disaster. Conclusions: Living in postdisaster prefabricated temporary housing may not negatively impact subsequent psychosocial conditions or social interaction activities 5 y later.

TOWARDS LONG-TERM SUSTAINABLE PERFORMANCE OF POST-DISASTER HOUSING RECONSTRUCTION: SECOND LIFE FOR TEMPORARY HOUSING

The pressing human needs caused due to post-disaster effects may force donors to provide a roof above the heads of the displaced communities than focusing on fulfilling the references of a ‘home,’ which is a step toward restoring a certain sense of stability embedded with social, cultural, economic, and other interactions. And several displaced communities around the world continue to live in their temporary housing on a long-term basis. Therefore, this study aimed at investigating methods to consider a second life for the post-disaster temporary housing which may ensure long-term sustainable performance. A comprehensive literature survey has been carried out in attaining the aim. Many studies have found that the rapid post-disaster housing re-construction strategies through universal working standards have become unsustainable and culturally unacceptable in the long term. Furthermore, in various instances, the real-life post-disaster temporary housing has been simply dismantled or abandoned due to the end of usage and cultural incompatibility, without giving any concern for future disasters. This could be minimised by transforming the donor initiated temporary housing into a permanent basis. To achieve this, scholars have identified the need of considering the socio-cultural and related physical needs through active involvement of affected communities. Therefore, to achieve prolonged use of temporary housing, the findings suggest that the social and cultural needs of communities and associated physical transformations need to be considered by the donors. The findings serve as a way forward to explore a transformational space that can accommodate social and physical transformations in post-disaster housing reconstruction.

Five-year Psychosocial Impact of Living in Post-Disaster Prefabricated Temporary Housing

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the long-term impact of living in post-disaster prefabricated temporary housing on social interaction activities and mental health status. Methods: A total of 917 adult residents in a coastal town, whose residences were destroyed by the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE), were enrolled for the assessment held five years after the disaster. They answered questions about their experience and consequence of living in prefabricated temporary housing after the disaster. Their present scores on five types of self-reported measures regarding the psychosocial or psychiatric status and their present and recalled social interaction activities were cross-sectionally collected. Results: A total of 587 (64.0%) participants had a history of living in prefabricated temporary housing, while the other 330 (36.0%) had not. The prevalence of social interaction activities significantly decreased after the GEJE. However, the experience of living in prefabricated temporary housing did not adversely affect the subsequent social interaction activities or mental conditions of the participants five years after the disaster. Conclusions: Living in post-disaster prefabricated temporary housing may not negatively impact subsequent psychosocial conditions or social interaction activities five years later.