Developing disaster survivor resiliency: the home away from home

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the significance of psychological resiliency for evacuated disaster survivors and the possible implementation of a concept known as homes away from home aimed at fostering such resiliency.Design/methodology/approachTo address the topic of resiliency in evacuated disaster survivors, first an evacuation scenario is explored. The scenario is followed by a discussion of disaster psychology, resiliency, and a development of the homes away from home concept.FindingsThe development of an evacuated disaster survivor's individual and community resiliency shows promise as an effective means of mitigating the psychological damage of a disaster or terrorist attack. The implementation of the homes away from home concept, designed to foster such resiliency in emergency shelters could be effective.Practical implicationsIncorporating accommodations for the development of individual and community psychological resiliency in emergency shelters in emergency operations plans could be more tangible with the homes concept. A shift in sheltering practices is necessary to meet not only the basic needs of survivors but higher needs as well.Originality/valueThe homes away from home concept is new as there are few if any models for emergency shelters that specifically offer direction to local jurisdictions to develop individual and community resiliency.

Accessing emergency rest centres in the UK – lessons learnt

“…This means that a lack of access provision could have a progressively detrimental effect. Barnes (2006) refers to the possibility of moving away from terms such as "evacuation shelter" to "home away from home" to develop disaster survivor resiliency. Obstacles that are an inconvenience for someone evacuated for a matter of hours become a real barrier to access if this situation continues for days, or even weeks.…”

Counselors’ Experience with Disaster Survivors of Natural Disasters: A Descriptive Phenomenological Study

“…Understanding and addressing the complexity of satisfying disaster survivor's needs are critical during a disaster. In any disaster either man-made or natural, the victims or survivors experience suffering from many causes including bereavement from the loss of family members and friends, fear of dying, community destruction, social unrest, physical injuries, mental health problems such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), loss of livelihood, famine, migration, and even armed conflict (Barnes, 2006;Krishnaswamy et al, 2012). Therefore, the ability to provide crisis intervention and psychological support within all the challenges faced during the wake of natural disaster is very helpful in easing the burden faced by the disaster survivors.…”