Roundtable discussion “meaning in the earthquake area” during opening of Centre for RHW

During the opening of the Centre for Religion, Health and Wellbeing, a roundtable discussion was held on meaning-making in the earthquake area in the province of Groningen. The earthquakes caused by gas extraction in the provinces of Drenthe and Groningen can be qualified as chronic disasters. Such a disaster raises a need for meaning, but what does that need look like, how can we care for these needs and how do we make these issues visible in scientific research? These questions were central to the roundtable discussion. The participants were Bea Blokhuis (expert by experience and lecturer at the UG), Tom Postmes (professor at the UG), Melissa Dales (chaplain in the Groningen earthquake area), Jorien Holsappel (senior policy advisor and research at the Arq knowledgecentre Impact), and Hanneke Muthert (researcher and lecturer at the UG).

All five speakers noted that trust and community are the two main themes that are at stake in the area. These themes touch upon fundamental assumptions about the world, according to Holsappel and Muthert. This makes them existential issues. Blokhuis indicated that she had learned two things from here experiences with the earthquakes and the claims settlements: “People don’t do what they say” and “The outside world doesn’t care”. In other words, people are not to be trusted. Dales stressed that inhabitants also don’t see an end to the situation, which puts further pressure on feelings of safety and trust. Blokhuis: “I have a proverbial alarmclock ticking for when my house will be safe, but I have no idea when it will go off.”

In addition, Postmes and Dales stressed that every person experiences the situation differently, which affects feelings of community. And this when ‘neighborliness’ is the most important source of support and comfort for people, according to Dales. Blokhuis does suggest that the shared experience provides a sense of togetherness and connection between people. Postmes also sees this in his reaserch, but because the problem “has been kept small” by the community and by the outside world, the sense of togetherness is not as strong as would be expected in the context of a disaster. This aspect of keeping it small can also help to maintain a sense of hope, according to Holsappel and Blokhuis, but Muthert responds that at the same time this can make it more difficult to express your experiences and to cope with them.

This is why it is important to understand the words and images that the people use when providing care for their needs for meaning, according to Muthert and Dales, by openly listening. Muthert: “Only when you understand how someone is connected to the place they feel at home in, when you found words and images that allow you to express how you associate to what has happened to you, only then will alternative practices or new perspectives on the situation be possible.” Muther stressed that: “We all have needs for meaning.” This implies that care professionals active in the area also need support to keep going. Additionally, it’s not only chaplains who provide care for needs for meaning, but anyone who deals with the people in the earthquake area, such as builders and homecare professionals. Educating these professionals is thus an important task of the chaplains in the area.

The stories and images from inhabitants and the experiences of the various care professionals in the area are the main sources of information about meaning-making. Postmes also sees his work as a researcher there as a “moral obligation” to bring the situation of the people affected at the attention of others and to try to improve it through research. But: “You don’t want to be the department of bad news about Groningen. The question why some people are less affected by the situation is also important”. This is also what meaning-making is about, according to Muthert; finding space for what is difficult and for what brings hope.

Click here for the blog by Jochen Mierau, director of the Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health, about the opening if the Centre for RHW.

Click here for a news item in Medisch Contact about the Centre.