Assessment of Physical-Environmental Characteristics and Temporary Housing Policies in Iran from the Perspective of healing and Adaptation to the Consequences of disaster Trauma

As a result of disasters, a large part of community suffers from psychological trauma. Post disaster housing provision and construction projects face serious challenges and obstacles. On the one hand, the psychological problems of survivors, which lead to a sense of helplessness and lack of control over their destiny, stress and anxiety, and on the other hand, environmental threats that destroy remaining community’s structures and complicate problems even more by creating unfamiliar place and shelter. The secondary stresses caused by these processes, damage and affect survivors resources and ability to cope with trauma. Secondary sources of stress include inappropriate, contradictory and sometimes dangerous interventions in the mentioned process and policies of providing temporary housing would have a lasting impact on community and psychological consequences. Clearly, different types and characteristics of temporary housing have an objective role in response and coping mechanisms to trauma. There is little comprehensive documentation on policies, environmental characteristics, and types of temporary housing affecting the psychiatric recovery of disaster survivors in Iran. The present study, based on the expected characteristics of temporary housing in the context of trauma-informed care framework with environmental stress reduction approach, considers the effects of this particular type of trauma and subsequent recovery process in Iran and comprehensively ranks the psychological supportive environmental characteristics and shelter providing policies. The nature of this study is post-event research with qualitative and quantitative approach. The research methods include: content analysis, Delphi and group hierarchical analysis methods. Due to the lack of theoretical richness in disaster psychological healing in temporary housing in Iran, in-depth interviews with a heterogeneous group were performed. Panel members were a university professor with teaching background in designing and planning settlements after disaster; a disaster socio-psychologist; two PhD students in related fields and from two different universities and one expert with field work experience in temporary housing. Experts were selected in a targeted and sequential manner. The selection criteria were, 1) Doctoral degree or doctoral student in the fields of reconstruction and disasters; 2) Working experience or having authorship and research in the considered subject, and 3) Field trips to the disaster affected areas during the temporary housing phases. Then using content analysis related codes of interviews were extracted. In order to formulate the theoretical framework, in the second round of Delphi among the extracted indicators, effective criteria were selected by panel and hierarchical structure of research, including five measures of  environmental restoration, environmental affordability, control, cohesion and environmental stimuli, and 26 sub-criteria and two common temporary housing options in Iran (gradual and prefabricated) was formed. In the third round of research, group hierarchical analysis was performed with experts participatory, with questions in the form of pair wise comparison with five spectra. According to the research findings, the role of improvement restoration, stimulus elimination, environmental affordability, control and cohesion, respectively, are effective in reducing environmental stress. The most important sub-criteria affecting survivors' healing and adaptability in temporary housing are security, physical dimensions and features; risk eliminating factors; territory control capability; flexibility of space and design; stability and constancy of housing; Physical-environmental stimuli; appropriate distance between temporary housing; housing intervention ability; control over space and spatial organization are predictable. Consequently, the gradual housing provision policy in the temporary housing phase, within the framework of mentioned approach, has been assessed as more effective than pre-fabricated housing. Effective factors in this process were physical-emotional safety; choice and control, and the enhancement of cooperation and participation which causes reassurance, empowerment, psychological cohesion, and thus Survivors' trauma healing.