12:15 PM - 1:15 PM
[P-11] A Case Study of Cooperation between Historians and Psychologists in Providing and Assessing Community Psychosocial Support in Tsunami-affected Areas
Keywords:psycho-social support, cultural heritage, great eastern Japan earthquake, elderly people, mental health
Eight years on from the tsunami of 2011, the affected areas are facing the problems of depopulation, and social and economic decay. Historians have conducted salvage operations where possible on the historical heritage of affected areas. The owners of collections of local heritage are typically elderly people. Data on elderly people after the disaster and how their experience can help their communities is lacking.
This study assesses how historians’ salvage operations can provide valid psycho-social support for affected communities and individuals, struggling to rebuild after the disaster.
Method: We conducted a series of structured interviews with people owning collections of salvaged historical heritage. All the subjects interviewed were over 60 years old. The interviews used the Personal Attitude Construct (PAC) Analysis to analyze the subjects’ attitudes towards their historical heritage and self-identity.
The interviews use a stimulus sentence to elicit free word association from the subjects, and then ask the subject to pair their words on a distance matrix. These words are then grouped into clusters which the subject names. SPSS is used to perform an analysis of the clusters, and then the subject is asked to say what they feel on looking at the results of the analysis.
Results: Except for small number of subjects exhibiting extreme stress, most subjects answered that after the interview process, they were able to regain their ego integrity. Furthermore, our studies show that the work of historians can help restore social cohesion in damaged communities. Historians cannot objectively assess the psychosocial effects of their work and interdisciplinary cooperation with psychologists can help both improve their support for affected individuals and communities.
This study assesses how historians’ salvage operations can provide valid psycho-social support for affected communities and individuals, struggling to rebuild after the disaster.
Method: We conducted a series of structured interviews with people owning collections of salvaged historical heritage. All the subjects interviewed were over 60 years old. The interviews used the Personal Attitude Construct (PAC) Analysis to analyze the subjects’ attitudes towards their historical heritage and self-identity.
The interviews use a stimulus sentence to elicit free word association from the subjects, and then ask the subject to pair their words on a distance matrix. These words are then grouped into clusters which the subject names. SPSS is used to perform an analysis of the clusters, and then the subject is asked to say what they feel on looking at the results of the analysis.
Results: Except for small number of subjects exhibiting extreme stress, most subjects answered that after the interview process, they were able to regain their ego integrity. Furthermore, our studies show that the work of historians can help restore social cohesion in damaged communities. Historians cannot objectively assess the psychosocial effects of their work and interdisciplinary cooperation with psychologists can help both improve their support for affected individuals and communities.