Optimal Life Recovery Assistance for Those Who Are Residing in Designated Temporary Housing in Widely Dispersed Locations: Interim Findings on Different Household Groups and on Life Recovery Promotion Parameters

Abstract

Most persons whose houses were destroyed in the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake/tsunami disaster now reside in designated temporary housing (DTH). Unlike prefabricated temporary housing (PTH) occupants, DTH dwellers reside in widely dispersed locations. Japanese disaster research has mainly focused on life recovery assistance for PTH occupants who live in close proximity and not much is known about DHT residing “diaspora” survivors. This paper outlines a set of projects aimed at identifying 1) life recovery process characteristics among DTH occupants, 2) interrelationships between community rebuilding and individual life recovery processes of DTH dwellers, 3) connecting or reconnect such residents, and 4) managing individual life recovery by providing disaster case management services. We focused on interim findings about life recovery process studies based on ethnographic and community-based participatory research and implications regarding DTH residents’ valuations in terms of rank-ordering the seven critical elements (SCEs) for life recovery. We compare their situation to that of survivors of the 1995 Kobe earthquake.