“If Somebody Needed Help, I Went Over”: Social Capital and Therapeutic Communities of Older Adult Farmers in British Columbia Floods

Abstract

Older adults in disaster contexts are often thought of as a passive, vulnerable population that lacks agency and capacities to cope in the aftermath. However, it can be argued that older adults may have underrecognized strengths that can be utilized pre-, peri-, and post-disaster. One of these strengths is older adults’ unique social capital that stems from long-standing connections with other members of their respective communities. Using data from in-depth, semistructured interviews with farmers in British Columbia 3–11 months after the 2021 floods, this research explored the experiences of older adult farmers’ recovery. The farmers discussed how they leveraged their social capital to aid in their recovery efforts from the flood event. By using their bonding social capital, older adult farmers transformed their existing, deep-rooted connections into post-disaster assistance. This, in turn, generated the idea of the therapeutic community, helping community members cope in the aftermath. This research indicated the need to further examine how older adults in disaster settings can be viewed as assets with community knowledge and skills as opposed to solely as a vulnerable population.