Social Sciences & Humanities Open 6 (2022) 100351

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Social Sciences & Humanities Open

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Regular Article

Home is restoration: Towards a health-based model of the importance of

home for survivors of natural disasters
Marta Delgado 1
Center for the Built Environment, University of California, Berkeley, 390 Wurster Hall #1839, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Something fundamental for health lies in the relationship between individuals and their homes, and it is missed
Relocation by entire populations after destructive natural disasters. Although previous research has verified the importance
Disaster of home to the psychological and physiological well-being of adults in normal conditions, natural disaster re­
Home
covery plans still ignore the impact that recreating a sense of home in transitional and permanent relocation
Health
environments can have in the relief of stress and depression of the displaced people. This exploratory study draws
Restoration
Embodied cognition upon the theory of embodied cognition to explain the interrelationship between home environments and physical
and psychological restoration. Through a phenomenologically based analysis of in-depth interviews with five
survivors of the 2018 Paradise Camp Fire, a review of the literature on home, and empirical evidence and theory
from the cognitive sciences, an enriched definition of home is formulated on the basis that the pleasant feelings of
home are a result of the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system, a physiological restorative process
that is associated with environmental cues and is impaired in no-home environments. The provisional findings of
this study suggest that improving access to suitable homes can be an effective non-invasive measure to prevent
long-term negative health effects of relocation after a natural disaster, and that displaced individuals should
always be involved in the decision-making about relocation and rebuilding. For that purpose, this study proposes
a thirteen-topic survey to identify the themes that can provide a sense of home to each individual affected by
displacement.

1. Introduction belonging (Gibbs et al., 2016). The community of Paradise, however, has
struggled with relocation and rebuilding since the fire due to an un­
Natural disasters displace more people in the world each year. In precedented saturation of the available market, the loss of uninsured or
2018, in Paradise, California, the Camp Fire claimed 85 lives and 20,000 under-insured property, the damage of basic town infrastructures, and
structures in seven days. Approximately 13,850 homes were destroyed, the increase in the cost of construction. Many people have had to rely on
and at least 53,000 people were displaced. Survivors of disasters like this shelters, tents, trailers, garages and temporary rentals across the country
have to wait for years to see their communities recovered, and in the to live—for months and even years—while waiting to rebuild or move to
process, they are likely to face multiple relocations, to struggle to access a permanent relocation environment. Their struggle with relocation and
basic resources and healthcare, and to have to cope with severe physical rebuilding sparked the fundamental inquiry of this study: Would the
and mental health challenges. Due to the increase of extreme weather physical and mental health of relocated individuals improve faster if
events, owing to anthropogenic climate change, more people will face they felt at home in transitional or permanent housing?
this grievance each year, as 23.7 million did in 2021 (IDMC, 2022). In the absence of a prior theory that explains a biological link be­
Previous studies have shown that the health and well-being of sur­ tween relocation and stress, the author proposes a theoretical connec­
vivors of natural disasters are strongly associated with restoring familiar tion between certain attributes of residential environments, the
physical and social environments, like homes, businesses and commu­ development of a sense of home, and physical and psychological resto­
nities (Lee et al., 2018), (Osofsky et al., 2011). A sense of place has ration based on four sources of information: (1) evidence of the negative
already been acknowledged as important for recovery (Zetter & Boano, health effects of relocation, (2) the new theories on embodied cognition,
2009) because it has a role in restoring a sense of life, identity and which relate feelings with life-keeping processes, (3) a review of

E-mail address: [email protected].

1
Current address: PO Box 12056, Zephyr Cove, NV, 89448, United States.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2022.100351
Received 25 July 2022; Accepted 17 October 2022
Available online 29 October 2022
2590-2911/© 2022 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
M. Delgado Social Sciences & Humanities Open 6 (2022) 100351

published empirical research that identified the essential themes that SNS and the PSNS is understood as self-regulation, for which perceived
people refer to when defining the meaning of home; (4) the interpretive safety and comfort are necessary conditions (Brosschot et al., 2016).
content analysis of in-depth interviews conducted with five survivors of Supporting self-regulation is highly correlated with increased resilience
the 2018 Camp Fire (N = 5). and long term physical health because it impacts the body’s essential
This study aims to incorporate the findings of academic research on homeostatic or life-keeping process (Porges, 2011), (Yaribeygi et al.,
home into research on post-disaster recovery, by exploring the impact of 2017).
feeling at home on people’s health. Empirical studies and conceptual
frameworks on the health impacts of relocation, as reviewed by Uscher- 2.3. Novel theories of embodied cognition
Pines (Uscher-Pines, 2009), only tangentially include elements of the
physical environment as psychological stressors, and lack analysis of the Embodied cognition is a theoretical point of view that characterizes
attributes of residential environments as defined by the early literature the nervous system as a system dedicated to continuously analyze in­
on home. This is because research on relocation has been insufficient, formation in order to assess homeostasis: the state of physical fitness and
lacking longitudinal designs, and mostly focused on psychological re­ the opportunities for survival. The evolutionary origins of feelings is
sults, leaving physical health outcomes undescribed (Uscher-Pines, theorized in the literature of Antonio Damasio (Damasio, 2018). He
2009). Current research-informed guidance on disaster relocation (G. U. defines feelings as “the subjective experiences of the momentary state of
Brookings and U. N. H. C. for R. UNHRC, 2015) also defines adequate homeostasis within a living body.” [21, p.27]. Feelings have been
housing without connection to the emotional and physiological value of developed to allow beings to know the quality of their inner state, to
home. Thus, a new model seems needed to help decision-makers motivate actions, and to monitor the results of the actions. For this
determine people’s most essential environmental needs. researcher, human culture is a result of organisms that, thanks to feel­
ings, create practices to support or correct individual homeostatic bal­
2. Literature review and theory ance. In this paper, the idea of home is examined within Damasio’s
framework: if home has value for the body’s life-keeping processes it
2.1. The consequences of relocation must be associated with, and rewarded by, feelings.
When we are delighted, our body works better, inhibiting factors that
The negative effects of disaster relocation have been verified in decrease immune effectiveness (Speer & Delgado, 2017). Contrarily, if
adults and older adults (Sanders et al., 2004), but remain uncertain something makes us feel uncomfortable or unsafe, the proper func­
when it comes to children (Najarian et al., 1996). Victims of natural tioning of our organs and immune system is distorted and our attention
disasters who suffer environmental disruption lose ontological security focuses on getting rid of the problem. Feeling good is important for
and sense of control, developing more stress and depression in com­ health, and this is nothing new (Mayne, 2001). What is relevant for the
parison to survivors who are able to return to their original homes purpose of this study is that our cognition establishes emotional re­
(Uscher-Pines, 2009), (Najarian et al., 2001). Even a long time after the lationships (attachments) with familiar conditions that are
disaster, relocated survivors are more likely to suffer from secondary health-supportive to increase instances of safety and foster states of
psycho-social problems (Barile et al., 2019). restoration.
Beyond the context of disaster displacement, an early study on
environmental psychology concluded, based on interviews with over 2.4. How home has been defined
200 individuals, that high residential mobility was directly associated
with more symptoms of physical illness, whereas individuals with lower Is home (a) place(s), (a) space(s), feeling(s), practices, and/or an
mobility and higher levels of residential satisfaction experienced the active state of being in the world?2
highest levels of psychological well-being (Stokols et al., 1983). Past research about home—as reviewed in the work of (Després,
Empirical studies on home adaptation and relocation for elders have also 1991; Easthope, 2004; Mallett, 2004; Moore, 2000; Somerville, 1997)—
demonstrated that ignoring the affection that people have for their has led to the conclusion that, in order to become home to us, the places
places may have negative effects on the dweller’s well-being (Heywood, where we choose to live must connect us with memories or meanings
2005). that we treasure. The cause of this phenomena is thought to be in the
human psyche, equipped to give meaning to physical elements. Clare
2.2. Restoration and the living environment Cooper Marcus [(Marcus, 1995), p.8] found that, in particular, the ob­
jects kept at home are links that bring us closer to our identity: “It is the
The places we live in have an influence on stress and restoration. movable objects in the home, rather than the physical fabric itself, that
Research on environmental psychology has shown that the living envi­ are the symbols of self.”
ronment can be a source of stressors as well as of stress-coping resources The essential qualities that relate home to self have been defined in
(Hartig & Staats, 2004), (Ulrich, 1991), and it should be thus chosen or behavioral research through interviews with large numbers of people.
designed carefully. In the context of post-disaster recovery, no studies Individuals seem to develop their definition of home based on their life
have yet analyzed which residential factors affect the arousal of the experiences and evolving needs (Giuliani, 1991; Graham & Habib, 2005;
nervous system. However, the study conducted after the Australian 2009 Horwitz & Tognoli, 1982; Manzo, 2003; Sixsmith & Sixsmith, 1991).
bushfires showed that, for people strongly attached to the natural They also cast salient aspects of their identity on their relationships to
landscape, seeing it regenerate over time relieved psychological stress, home (Marcus, 1995), (Cieraad, 1999; Csikszentmihalyi & Halton, 1981;
reducing the symptoms of PTSD and depression, and increasing psy­ Dovey et al., 1985; Smith, 1994), and thus have their sense of self
chological recovery and resilience (Block et al., 2019). weakened by homelessness (Natalier & Johnson, 2015), (Parsell, 2012).
Human physiological restoration is defined in this study as the Carole Després, in her comprehensive review on the early literature
accumulation of physical energy and its investment in the correction of about home (Després, 1991), provided a taxonomy of the functions of
cardiovascular, immune and psychological imbalances. It follows the home and of the interrelated themes that people associate with it.
increase of the parasympathetic (PSNS) tone of the autonomic nervous Although individuals differ in which are more important to them, she
system in instances of perceived safety, which are constantly evaluated gathered the following themes: security, control, self-expression, action
(Porges, 2011). It allows the body to rest, digest or sleep and opposes upon, permanence, social relationships, activities, refuge, status,
states of arousal, counteracting the effects of stress—states induced by
the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) (Yaribeygi, Panahi, Sahraei,
Johnston, & Sahebkar, 2017). The autonomous interplay between the 2
Mallett (Mallett, 2004), p. 65.

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M. Delgado Social Sciences & Humanities Open 6 (2022) 100351

material structure and ownership (Table 1). Without denying that hav­ analysis was to identify a possible relationship between the idea of home
ing a dwelling is important for physical well-being, the theoretical and homeostatic functions.
conceptualizations of home presented by Després support the idea that,
when provided with a secure space of belonging, humans are able to 3.1. Study participants
maintain their psychological and social well-being by developing and
preserving a personal identity. The sample consisted of two heterosexual couples and one single
However, in the theories and qualitative studies on home, the woman—three women and two men—between 49 and 61 years old,
physical and psychological needs of people appear segregated, and white, English-speakers, homeowners with diverse socio-economic
greater importance is given to the psychic dimension of the symbolism backgrounds and education levels, all able to read and write. The in­
of home than to any relationship between the symbols and the oppor­ terviewees were recruited by email invitations to take part in a volun­
tunities for physical well-being. These theories were developed during tary study dedicated to the dozen of initial participants of the Rebuild
the time when early cognitive science was misplacing the manifestation Paradise Foundation (RPF) project.3 There were no selection criteria
of symbolism and consciousness as a disembodied process, which based on age, gender, race or ethnicity, and no compensation for
became the public view (Glenberg et al., 2013). Any concepts regarding participation. The ideal number of participants to make data manage­
symbolism that were developed while a disembodied view of cognition able was between three and five households of the RPF beneficiaries.
was the prevalent thought need to be reviewed and enriched with the The researcher’s background as a university student of architecture and
evidence of embodied cognition. cognitive science living abroad allowed her to relate to their experiences
of relocation and the longing for home. To protect the privacy of the
participants, their names have been erased from the study materials.
2.5. Limitations of the current UN criteria

The guidelines for disaster response provided by the United Nations 3.2. Interviews
High Commissioner for Refugees do not seem to capture the essentiality
of re-creating a sense of home for the health and well-being of displaced The first two interviews were face to face at the current residence of
survivors (G. U. Brookings and U. N. H. C. for R. UNHRC, 2015), the participants, lasted between one and a half and 2 h, and were audio
(Georgetown University et al., 2016). It could be the case that a natural recorded for later transcription. Prepared questions included open-
disaster survivor is offered shelter or housing in accordance with the ended questions on the meaning of home; questions on residential
UN’s principles (e.g. a shared room in a public shelter) without being design preferences; and some demographic information. In most cases,
provided with the minimum means to have the experience of home, the conversation went from question to question in the order of prepa­
which could benefit their health considerably. Past research has shown ration, with some flexibility. For those households with two individuals,
that a place to stay is not enough to create the sense of belonging, which each person took turns giving their answers, and the order was alter­
depends on subjective qualities (Natalier & Johnson, 2015). There are nated and prompted by the interviewer. A third interview was con­
important qualities of home that are not captured by the international ducted online, on Zoom, due to national shelter-in-place restrictions to
human rights law, such as self-expression, connection with meaningful prevent the spread of Covid-19, and lasted 40 min, with a smaller
social relationships and the ability to control or act upon one’s envi­ number of the questions dealing with home design. The UC Berkeley
ronment (see Table 1). Committee for the Protection of Human subjects reviewed and approved
the research protocol (IRB-2019-11-12726).
3. Methods
3.3. Qualitative analysis
In order to obtain verbatim data on the feelings of home from a small
group affected by disaster displacement for the exploratory purposes of The transcripts were treated using a qualitative analysis software,
the study, the author conducted, recorded and then analyzed the tran­ MAXQDA. The texts were read several times and coded by the
scripts of three in-depth interviews with survivors of the 2018 Paradise researcher, an IPA methodology used by Smith (Smith, 1994) to group
Camp Fire, developed with a focus on how the participants made sense interview segments by emerging themes. One or more thematic identi­
of their experiences and preferences at home, in accordance with the fiers were given to excerpts selected for their descriptive character.
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) methodology (Smith Coded excerpts were treated equally (not weighted) and counted for
et al., 2009). The interviews were conducted between February 2020 statistical analysis. All mentions to feelings were also coded.
and May 2020, including five participants in total. The objective of the The themes gathered in the analysis showed similarity with those of
Carole Després (Després, 1991). Smith (Smith, 1994) had organized
Table 1
similar emerging themes in three overarching categories previously
Attributes of home. identified in a study by Sixsmith (Sixsmith, 1986): physical, for themes
related to the physical world and the physical environment; social, for
Identified in Empirical Research Protected by International Human Rights Law
themes of social relationships; and personal, for themes of personal
a) Security and Control a) Legal Security of Tenure experience in nature. However, during the course of content analysis in
b) Reflection of One’s Ideas and b) Availability of Services, Materials,
the present study, these categories seemed hard to isolate. Most of the
Values Facilities and Infrastructures
c) Acting Upon and Modifying time, the verbal descriptions emphasized relationships between physical
One’s Dwelling elements and experiences of personal or social value. The noun value is
d) Permanence and Continuity c) Affordability used in this study to express the achievement of desired experiences,
e) Relationships with Family d) Habitability
and Friends
f) Center of Activities e) Accessibility
3
g) Refuge from the Outside f) Location The interviewees were beneficiaries of the pro bono project Residential
World Floorplan Library, envisioned by the Rebuild Paradise Foundation and made
h) Indicator of Personal Status g) Cultural Adequacy possible by the contribution of architects and students at Chico State University.
i) Material Structure At the time of the interviews, the designers were developing, based on the needs
j) Place to Own of the participating sample households, residential housing blueprints to be
Based on Després (1991) Literature Based on the General Comment No. 4 on the right
later permitted and released at no cost to those households and to any other
Review to adequate housing CESCR, 1991)
homeowners affected by the 2018 Camp Fire.

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social or personal in nature. peaceful and quiet.” there is a connection between a physical space—a
bedroom characterized by quietness and privacy—the realization of an
4. Results activity of rest or laying down, and the arousal of feelings of relaxation
and peace. The activities, events or values that appeared connected to
4.1. Types of home environment feelings were, from higher to fewer number of mentions: resting activ­
ities, sensorial experiences, hobbies, social experiences, the house at­
During the interviews, participants spoke about several types of mosphere, personalization efforts or actions upon the dwelling, privacy,
residential environments. Two of the households had lost their home in a sense of permanence or belonging, ownership, memories, and activ­
Paradise, while one couple maintained the residence and was still living ities of daily routine and housekeeping.
in it at the time of the interview, but had endured the loss of land­
scaping, small structures and the neighboring houses. Dwellings were 4.3. Types of feelings
one-story manufactured houses averaging 1700 sq. ft. One household
had relocated to three different accommodations: a friend’s house, an The positive feelings most mentioned (see Table 3) were comfort,
owned trailer, and a relative’s home. Another household had moved to a relaxation and warmth, along with unspecified references to just feeling,
400 sq. ft. garage with a bathroom and exterior space. One spouse in this feeling good or feeling better. Feelings of peace, joy, love, coziness and
particular household reported being unable to feel at home in the tem­ safety also had a number of mentions. Some unspecific feelings
porary accommodation, while the other spouse felt at home in the same mentioned by at least one participant were the feeling of something
space. All participants mentioned a different past home or a childhood’s being owned, the feeling of a house having a soul, the feeling of home,
home. the feeling of belonging and the feeling of solitude. Negative feelings
were mentioned a few times, mainly sorrow related to the experience of
4.2. Types of descriptions the loss. There was also one mention about discomfort caused by an
environmental feature.
Three thirds of the descriptions coded expressed a relationship be­
tween environmental features and the activities and values that the 5. Discussion
physical properties afforded, while the rest were personal opinions
about physical elements (see Table 2). The most frequently mentioned 5.1. The pleasantness of home
were personal in nature. Theme-wise, social relationships were the most
important, followed by actions upon the dwelling, the reflection of one’s The present qualitative exploration indicates that pleasant feelings
identity or values, compatibility with one’s needs for space or activity, are inherent to the idea of home. All of the participants expressed a
the sense of atmosphere, and the achievement of privacy. connection between home and positive sensations, as if pleasantness
In a fifth part of the descriptions, feelings expressed the relationship arises naturally when we come in contact with home. For example:
between physical properties and environmental values (see Table 2, “When I think about home, I think about love, but there is also a comfort
second column). For example, in “Sometimes I just like being in my there that’s different.”
room, where you just kind of lay down and relax, and it’s your safe spot, The experience described ought to have a major physical component,
since it was difficult for participants to articulate it verbally. This is clear
Table 2 in the following account: ‘When you can come home and just sit down on
Personal and social values in verbal descriptions of residential environments your couch and just go “Aww.’ That’s the relaxation of home.” The
from five survivors of 2018 Camp fire. expression Aww stands out for its lack of spoken language—it is a verbal
Counted Verbal Descriptions enactment of a physical experience of release.
With No Mentions About With Mentions About
From a cognitive science perspective, acknowledging the positivity
Feelings Feelings

Personal Values Table 3

Security/Safety/Refuge 5 (2%) 0 (0%) Types of feelings in verbal descriptions of residential environments from five
Permanence/Continuity 9 (4%) 3 (6%) survivors of 2018 Camp fire.
Privacy/Tranquility/ 15 (6%) 5 (10%)
Counted Verbal Descriptions
Control
Ownership 5 (2%) 2 (4%) Feelings Directly Related to PSNS Activity 70 (66%)
Memories 5 (2%) 2 (4%) Comfort 27 (25%)
Atmosphere/Evocations 14 (6%) 6 (12%) Relaxation 12 (11%)
Fit to Needs Warmth 11 (10%)
Spatial Needs 19 (8%) 0 (0%) Peace 8 (8%)
Daily Routines 14 (6%) 1 (2%) Coziness 6 (6%)
Lifestyle 11 (5%) 0 (0%) Safety 5 (5%)
Maintenance/ 12 (5%) 1 (2%) Calm 1 (1%)
Housekeeping
Activities/Hobbies 7 (3%) 8 (16%) Feelings Not Directly Related to PSNS Activity 36 (34%)
Time for Oneself/Rest 10 (4%) 7 (14%) Non-specific: Good/Better 12 (11%)
Watching 6 (3%) 3 (6%) Joy 8 (8%)
Action Upon 27 (11%) 5 (10%) Love 7 (7%)
Identity/Personal 21 (9%) 0 (0%) Sorrow 5 (5%)
Expression Non-specific: Belonging 2 (2%)
Non-specific: Owning 2 (2%)
Social Values Non-specific: Soul 2 (2%)
Social Experiences/Relationships Non-specific: Home 1 (1%)
Family/Friends 40 (17%) 1 (2%) Non-specific: Solitude 1 (1%)
Neighbors 12 (5%) 4 (8%) Fun 1 (1%)
Animals 4 (2%) 1 (2%) Discomfort 1 (1%)

Total Total
Mentions Counted 236 49 Mentions Counted 106

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associated with home signifies that feeling at home is conducive to of life.

greater health. Positive feelings about a particular environment direct us
towards it as a life-supporting condition and, in addition, reward us with 5.4. Experiences associated with feeling at home
a life-supporting physiological restoration, the purpose of homeostasis.
Negative feelings about different environments serve us by creating The desire to feel at home and the re-creation of qualities of home in
memories that will later on help us avoid experiences that are not temporary accommodations was brought up spontaneously by the dis­
beneficial to our inner balance. placed participants of this study. For the two households that lost their
Aligning with Damasio’s theory (Damasio, 2018), we could see home home in Paradise it was achieved through self-expression or actions
as a cultural tool of physiological compensation. Since ancient human upon the environment. For example: ‘The first thing is a comfortable
settlements, practices to increase the pleasantness of home follow the bed, whether it’s an air mattress or the couch or whatever it is, just a
instinct that it is a source of homeostatic value. Survivors of natural comfortable place to sleep, a cozy blanket. No matter what it is, if it’s a
disasters who face the grief of losing a home, a community and a picture of your kid, if it’s a certain color. I have stupid little things that
landscape might be physically stressed not only due to the loss of made me happy.’
emotional bonds, but also due to the loss of external tools of restoration. It is important to identify which particular experiences or events are
associated with reward in order to potentiate them. The importance of
5.2. The embodied cognition of home the diverse attributes of home varies between individuals and changes
throughout life (Giuliani, 1991). The results of this study include in­
The author hypothesizes that the action of the ventral para­ stances of huge variability, for example with ownership and permanence
sympathetic nervous system (PSNS), which mediates restoration and being very important for some participants and not at all for others. This
affective behavior (Porges, 2011), is the principal physiological expe­ finding confirms that environmental associations with restoration are
rience underlying the feelings of home. In this study, the vast majority based on personal experiences.
(66%) of the mentions about feelings qualifying experiences of home The author presents herein a summary of the themes of home iden­
have in common a sense of physiological pleasantness and relaxation, tified in this study as associated with restoration.
directly associated with the PSNS. Some mentions were unspecific in
terms of relaxation or arousal (joy, love or feeling good), however, two 5.4.1. Personal
thirds of all mentions about feelings in the study referred to either
comfort, relaxation, safety, peace, calm, coziness or warmth (Table 3). 1. Privacy: the state of being alone and undisturbed.
The concept of home, like other abstract ideas, is inseparable in our 2. Continuity/permanence: the event of remembering experiences where
cognition from the physiological result of the experience it symbolizes. one has stayed for a length of time.
Home and its symbols seem to represent the pleasant and restorative 3. Action upon: the state of recognizing one’s contribution to the
states that we experience in the domestic environment. When the con­ physical space.
ditions of our residence change, we can compare our learnt embodied 4. Physical structure: the state of recognizing acceptable physical qual­
sense of home against the new experience: we know a pleasant and ities in the environment because of their conduciveness to self-
comfortable state of being (even if we do not have a specific memory of sustenance.
it), but we might no longer identify it in an alienated space. One 5. Ownership: the state of knowing one’s exclusive possession of a
participant spoke of the absence of pleasant feelings to express the lack residence and the objects in it.
of home in the new relocation environment: “This isn’t home to me. I 6. Atmosphere: the experience of recognizing a sum of sensorial mo­
don’t feel the comfort here. I don’t feel the warmth or the relaxation. I dalities associated with the same concept or memory that relates to
don’t feel the love.” one’s aspirations.
These results are in alignment with the findings of previous empirical 7. Activities: actions that one partakes routinely in the same manner to
research, which did not examine verbal accounts of restorative feelings, achieve personal, material or socially desirable results.
but identified important qualities of home that also suggest the action of 8. Personalization/self-expression: the state of recognizing one’s contri­
the PSNS. For example, in Sixsmith’s study (Sixsmith, 1986) the most bution to the physical space, performed to express one’s appreciation
mentioned theme was belonging, described as relaxation and familiar­ for something.
ity. In Smith’s study (Smith, 1994) the most mentioned personal value 9. Lifestyle/location: the state of recognizing the conduciveness of the
was the experience of atmosphere, being comfort a big component of it. exterior environment, landscape and climate to achieving one’s most
important goals.
5.3. The role of attachment
5.4.2. Social
We become attached to the events and spaces that accompany our
experiences of restoration on a regular basis. Because restoration is so 1. Social relationships: events of spending time with family, friends and
important for our health and social connections, reward gets associated other meaningful relationships.
with environmental features that take part in those experiences via 2. Neighbors: typically, short encounters with neighbors related to
classical conditioning (also known as pavlovian reinforcement), in mutual acknowledgement or support.
which a neutral stimulus gets paired with a physiological process. As a
result, the conditions and objects associated with reward acquire sec­ 5.5. Survey for post-disaster relocation decision-making process
ondary rewarding properties. This is why mere physical contact with
attributes that we associate with home might trigger feelings that The author highlights the effectiveness of opinion surveying to
contribute to a more efficient homeostasis. identify the themes that can provide a sense of home to each individual
The author’s interpretation of the results adds a health perspective to affected by displacement. As a result, the author proposes a thirteen-
the dominant cultural and academic framing of home. Home attachment topic questionnaire (that can be found in the Appendix). This tool is
has been fundamentally associated with territorial, psychological and aimed at improving the communication between disaster case managers
sociological purposes (Després, 1991). By integrating new thinking on and survivors needing to relocate or rebuild, in order to foster a sup­
physiological restoration derived from embodied cognition research, ported decision-making process.
this study suggests that our desire for emotional connection with the To use the survey, respondents must read or hear the topic de­
environment is grounded in biological imperatives shared with all forms scriptions and check one of the boxes (not important, somewhat

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important, or very important). The topics marked as “very important” disaster survivors are offered guidance by institutions, counselors or
reflect the respondent’s most salient themes of home: the environmental disaster case managers on how to transition from the disastrous event to
qualities associated with restoration that should be satisfied as much as a long-term relocation environment; or how to rebuild, in case of
possible in relocation environments. The thirteen topics reflect the most homeowners. It is in these contexts that exploring the personal needs
common attributes of home, which are, according to the results and the that participate in the definition of home for each individual, for
literature4: security, permanence, privacy, control, material structure, example using a questionnaire (see Appendix), could be most successful,
aesthetics, location, social relationships, neighbors, self-expression, ac­ according to the provisional findings of this study.
tivities, social-status and ownership.
6.2. Final remarks
5.6. Limitations of the study
The fact that home may be equally important to health as to onto­
This study is limited in sample size and diversity of age and socio- logical security is a new concept born of the intersection between home
cultural background of the participants, especially regarding their studies and cognitive science. Our relationship to home and the activ­
common interests as homeowners. This makes the results non- ities we carry out in it influence the development of our personal
transferable to other displaced and non-displaced populations, and the identity, and also support our life-keeping mechanisms by influencing
findings provisional and exploratory. In addition, the participants were our nervous system. The interrelation between psychological constructs
not oblivious to the study objectives of investigating the feelings about and physiological experiences at home certainly deserves more attention
home, hence, their responses might have been biased. Lastly, the expe­ than it has received in previous research, and most importantly, it can
riences of home gathered were mostly positive. Considering opposed highlight the veracity of embodied cognition’s primary assertion—that
views and experiences might be important to capture the multidimen­ the purpose of the mind is to serve the body.
sionality of housing experiences and of homelessness.
The action of the PSNS in homes, no-homes, voluntary relocation Funding
spaces and forced relocation spaces must also be verified empirically to
determine if reduced physiological reactions (such as heart rate, This research did not receive any specific grant from funding
breathing rate, blood pressure, temperature and electrodermal activity), agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
and the cerebral areas related to emotional responses and PSNS pro­
cesses are active during people’s physical experiences of home. An Data availability statement
alternative explanation is that restorative feelings are associated with
the social relationships of home, and not with the physical structures. The data that support the findings of this study are available from the
corresponding author, upon reasonable request.
6. Conclusions
Declaration of competing interest
The results of this exploratory study showed that, when five partic­
ipants answered questions about home and their preferences in resi­
None.
dential environments, they described physical elements interrelated
with rewarding experiences of social and personal nature. In the light of
Acknowledgements:
the new knowledge of the cognitive sciences, these experiences have
been interpreted as biologically essential, in two ways. First, because
This study wouldn’t have been possible without the relentless sup­
positive feelings offset physiological imbalances, and are life-keeping
port and advice of Galen Cranz, as well as of Gail Brager and Clare-
mechanisms. Second, because they enable an essential neuro-
Cooper Marcus, who have provided outstanding direction and inspira­
physiological state responsible for human survival: restoration. This
tion. I would like to thank Charles Brooks, from the Rebuild Paradise
study proposes a new definition of home as the experience of increasing
Foundation, and Rouben Mohiuddin and his students at Chico State
internal states of restoration associated with an external physical
University for their invaluable help and generosity. Lastly, my appre­
environment.
ciation goes to the incredibly generous participants of this study and the
resilient community of Paradise, from whom I have learned so much.
6.1. Policy implications
Appendix A. Supplementary data
If verified, the findings would indicate that improving access to
suitable homes—spaces of belonging that meaningfully represent its Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
dwellers’ values, not mere shelters—can be an effective non-invasive org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2022.100351.
measure to prevent long-term negative health effects of relocation
after a natural disaster. Policies that control rental rights, reduce the
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