Does the Type of Temporary Housing Make a Difference in Social Participation and Health for Evacuees of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami? A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

BackgroundAlthough the majority of survivors of the huge Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami evacuated to two types of temporary housings, prefabricated housing and rented housing, health effects of these different environments were unclear. We examined whether prevalent social participation in prefabricated housing brought larger health benefits than in rented housing using the largest health survey data of the disaster survivors.MethodsThis cross-sectional study used a 2012 survey by the Miyagi Prefectural Government, in which almost all of evacuees were targeted (response rate: 61.6%). Self-rated health (SRH) and psychological distress measured via K6 score were the dependent variables, and social participation was the independent variable. Odds ratios of the social participation on health variables were estimated using logistic regression models. To assess the contribution of social participation, the population attributable fraction (PAF) was estimated.ResultsThe participants lived in prefabricated and rented housing numbered 19,726 and 28,270, respectively. Participants in prefabricated housing had poorer SRH and K6 than those in rented housing. The proportions of participants engaging in social participation of prefabricated and rented housing were 38.2% and 15.4%, respectively. The absence of social participation was significantly associated with poor SRH and K6 among participants in both housing types. The PAFs of social participation with good SRH were 39.5% in prefabricated housing and 14.4% in rented housing. For K6, the PAFs were 47.1% and 19.5% in prefabricated and rented housing, respectively.ConclusionCompared to the residents in rented housing, residents in prefabricated housing had more frequent opportunities for social participation, which was associated with larger health benefits.

Living in the Restoration Public Housing after the Great East Japan Earthquake Correlates with Lower Subjective Well-Being of Older Adults

“…Less participation tended to be associated with low SWB, although this association was not statistically significant. This tendency was supported by a previous report that the lack of social participation was significantly associated with psychological distress among evacuees after the GEJE [46]. However, reciprocity was negatively associated with SWB in RPH residents, although this association was not significant.…”

Psychological distress after the Great East Japan Earthquake: two multilevel 6-year prospective analyses

“…Details from the first stages of this data collection have been reported elsewhere. 7,13 Following the earthquake all survivors living in Miyagi Prefecture were randomly assigned to either private rented or prefabricated housing, paid for by the prefecture. Questionnaires were initially distributed to 12 868 families living in private housing in 35 municipalities (wave 1, from December 2011) and 15 979 families resident in prefabricated housing in 10 municipalities (wave 2, from September 2012).…”

Impact of Japanese Post-Disaster Temporary Housing Areas’ (THAs) Design on Mental and Social Health

“…Scattering the people affected breaks their bonds with their previous communities, which, as we have seen, is one of the major sources of problems related to residents’ mental health. In fact, a health survey recently published of the disaster survivors of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami [76], conclude that THA’ residents, thanks to larger social participation than those of rented housings, have larger health benefits.…”